Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Greenlights: L'arte di correre in discesa

Celebrity memoirs aren’t usually my thing, but Greenlights drew me in because 1) it wasn’t ghost written, and 2) I’ve watched an interview between him and Ryan Holiday and it seemed like he was down to Earth and had a good sense of who he was.

The book is an interesting book that’s part memoir and part self-reflections - which makes sense because he’s journaled since 15. Some would say this borders into the self-help space, but I really see his prescriptions as him formulating and announcing his own personal world view.

I listened to it in its audiobook form and would highly recommend it for anyone interested in reading it. McConaughey is masterful story teller and it’s a wonderful performance.

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peacefrog's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

I don’t like to rate biographies as they are someone’s life story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. From the beginning to the end. Oddly enough I have never been a fan of Matthew McConaughey, yet I was captured by his story telling!

Part of the reason I enjoyed this book so much was that it wasn’t a brag fest of who’s who. It was modest, fact based, and fun. I could envision Matthew travelling across the states with his dog, the European road trip, and the Vegas trip. I loved how he laughed at himself at all the funny parts.

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sspeir's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

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bookishaddictions's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

I snagged the audiobook edition on @libby.app from my local library. I loved every minute of it. McConaughey discusses everything- his hopes, his dreams (both normal and wet), and the hardest lessons he’s learned. This isn’t a traditional memoir, but it is full of his life stories. His tales are funny, brutally honest, and full of knowledge to share with listeners. McConaughey doesn’t set out to tell listeners what to do; he strives to tell listeners what he has done. I loved learning about his travels and the reasons for some of the choices that would be most questionable in public opinion. The six hours it’ll take to listen to this story (beautifully told by McConaughey himself) will pass by in no time. I highly recommend checking out Greenlights if you’re looking for something funny but reflective 🚥

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nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

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thebabybookworm's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

4.0

I love that he read his own book. There were so many things I learned about Matthew. There are a lot of crass stories and verbiage in the book.

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amdawson's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted reflective slow-paced

3.0

Eh. I love memoir and I even like Matthew McConaughey. I enjoyed listening to him story tell and his life is fascinating, regardless of how much fiction may be mixed in with the fact. I can imagine sitting around a campfire, late into the night and being captivated by any of these stories.
But, I just don’t love Uber-wealthy celebrity advice. I suppose everyone is prone to give it, but I’m inherently skeptical of people who are so wealthy they can sit around for long, extended periods of time hypothesizing about how life is best lived. Perhaps the bumper stickers and one-liner parts made more sense in print, but they felt distracting in the audio. The first 15% of the book felt like a fever dream but I powered through based on a friend’s recommendation. After I settled into the rhythm of his chaotic narrative and when I mustered the strength to overlook the uncomfortable parts, I ultimately enjoyed hearing a story of someone else’s ups and downs, as I always do when reading a good memoir.
I bet less skeptical people will really enjoy this. I just can’t help wondering if the book is just another performance.

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