Greenlights
by Matthew McConaughey
McConaughey's memoir, built from decades of journals, is about catching 'greenlights' in a life of yellow and red ones. It is funny, strange and honest about his father, his failures and his choices. It is not advice, exactly, but it is a vivid example of someone writing his own rules and living with the results.
Read it if…
you enjoy memoir and want to think about your own life as a story with turning points.
Skip it if…
you want structured lessons; the book is anecdote and philosophy, loosely.
Three things you will actually use
- Keep a journal; the pattern shows later.
- Say no to good things that are not your thing.
- Own your choices without blaming the past.
Do this first
Write down the last red light that turned out to be a greenlight in disguise.
Our verdict
Entertaining and sincere; a memoir, not a manual.
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