
Greenlights
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Narrated by:
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Matthew McConaughey
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Written by:
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Matthew McConaughey
About this listen
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 6 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE! Now with exclusive new content from the paperback edition, the life-changing memoir that has inspired millions of listeners through the Academy Award-winning actor’s unflinching honesty, unconventional wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction.
“The No. 1 celebrity memoir of the past 10 years.”—USA Today
“McConaughey’s book invites us to grapple with the lessons of his life as he did—and to see that the point was never to win, but to understand.”—Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
I’ve been in this life for fifty years, been trying to work out its riddle for forty-two, and been keeping diaries of clues to that riddle for the last thirty-five. Notes about successes and failures, joys and sorrows, things that made me marvel, and things that made me laugh out loud. How to be fair. How to have less stress. How to have fun. How to hurt people less. How to get hurt less. How to be a good man. How to have meaning in life. How to be more me.
Recently, I worked up the courage to sit down with those diaries. I found stories I experienced, lessons I learned and forgot, poems, prayers, prescriptions, beliefs about what matters, some great photographs, and a whole bunch of bumper stickers. I found a reliable theme, an approach to living that gave me more satisfaction, at the time, and still: If you know how, and when, to deal with life’s challenges—how to get relative with the inevitable—you can enjoy a state of success I call “catching greenlights.”
So I took a one-way ticket to the desert and wrote this book: an album, a record, a story of my life so far. This is fifty years of my sights and seens, felts and figured-outs, cools and shamefuls. Graces, truths, and beauties of brutality. Getting away withs, getting caughts, and getting wets while trying to dance between the raindrops.
Hopefully, it’s medicine that tastes good, a couple of aspirin instead of the infirmary, a spaceship to Mars without needing your pilot’s license, going to church without having to be born again, and laughing through the tears.
It’s a love letter. To life.
It’s also a guide to catching more greenlights—and to realizing that the yellows and reds eventually turn green too.
Good luck.
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Publisher's Summary
You may think you know all there is to know about beloved Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey. But the Academy Award winner’s memoir, which he narrates, is a delightfully honest and inspiring look at the actor’s life experiences and hard-earned lessons that will surprise even his biggest fans.
Matthew McConaughey has starred in comedies like Dazed and Confused and rom-coms like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and won an Oscar for his incredible performance in the drama Dallas Buyers Club. Famous not only for his "alright, alright, alright" and "you just gotta keep livin’ man" catchphrases, the actor is also down to earth and passionately Texan. In 2015, he began co-teaching the "Script to Screen" film production class at the University of Texas at Austin.
Greenlights was an actual labour of love for McConaughey, who took it upon himself to escape to the desert for 52 days without electricity to write the book. Relying on his diaries and journals, which he began to keep in high school, the book has been described as a memoir, but McConaughey calls it an "approach book." It’s filled with the kind of wisdom found in the best self-help books, and, McConaughey says, "it’s also a guide to catching more green lights—and to realizing that the yellows and reds eventually turn green too."
The audiobook is narrated by Matthew McConaughey, driving home his message of setbacks not always being bad, unconventional wisdom and advice that will prove invaluable to your journey, no matter what stage you find yourself in. This is a great book to enjoy in audio format for fans of the beloved actor and anyone who enjoys a captivating memoir alike.
What the critics say
“Matthew McConaughey’s book is exactly what we needed after the frenzy of Campaign 2020. . . . [A] much-needed breather . . . [and] a recuperative journey . . . it is both calming and laugh, laugh, laugh-out-loud funny.”—Hugh Hewitt, The Washington Post
“A delightful surprise, full of stories that [haven’t] been shared on late night talk shows or made headlines over the years. It’s a wild ride to be sure, but if you enjoy McConaughey and all of the eccentricities and contradictions that come with him, it’s one you won’t want to miss.”—Texas Monthly
“McConaughey’s approach to memoir is the opposite of careful, instead opting for pure candor. . . . Taken together, the stories in Greenlights paint the picture of someone who could not care less of what the world thinks of him, which has—not coincidentally—resulted in lots of people in the world liking the actor and his work.”—John Warner, Chicago Tribune
What listeners say about Greenlights
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Carrie
- 2021-01-09
wonderful book
Matthew is so insightful, positive and wonderfully detailed. I love the way he shares his life in the book. with a big smile on my face I can see things differently. You won't be dissapointed.!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Rodeohead
- 2020-10-25
Phenomenal
Well alrighty, alrighty, alrighty. This book is full on pedal to the metal, Greenlight go!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Rob
- 2021-02-24
Fastest book I ever finished...well the only book.
Listening to Matthew tell us about his moments of joy and tears of laughter, along with set backs and moments of reflection will capture your ear, your mind and your heart.
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1 person found this helpful
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- fvincenz
- 2021-04-27
loved it
A mix of memoirs, life lessons, bumper stickers and reflections. Doesn't hurt to listen to Matthew's dreamy voice and sexy accent ;)
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 2021-07-21
Inspired
Awesome book. I could relate on a good few experiences!
“An honest mans pillow is his piece of mind.
And when we lie on ours at night no matter who is in our bed
We all sleep alone”
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- Janine ellis
- 2020-12-20
exceptional!
It made me smile at times and teary at others. Witty, inspirational, well written, didn't want it to end. I just loved the messages within the Amory! Bravo
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- Anonymous User
- 2021-08-04
AMAZING
Hands down the best book I've ever listened to. This man has changed my life for the better with this book. Greenlight
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- Paskal Bruyere
- 2020-12-24
Great full
Great refreshing story like a cold beer in a hot summer day ,moral to look within and a voice like sweet honey! Thank you Matthew for sharing 😊
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- Jean
- 2020-11-08
Deserves to be read
Great voice and stories, light but insightful. It's a must read, I truly recommend it!!!
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- Steve
- 2021-05-05
Coolness personified
The story couldn't have been about anyone else. Good listen. A funny and enjoyable listen.
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