Matthew McConaughey is one cool guy in my opinion. At least he is in the the roles he plays in movies. Kind of a smart alecky, engaging, bright, laid back guy who somehow always gets what he wants and somehow you don’t mind. He’s wrote a memoir and maybe he is that kind of guy.
He talks about the difference between liars and bullshitters. Liars just lie, Bullshitters also tell untruth but you know they are lying and they know that you know, so shame on you if you believe them. And then he says he is a bullshitter.
So I don’t know what is truth and what is bullshit but he spins some great yarns and I think many of them might be true. His dad was in the oilfield supply business in west Texas and then in the late 70’s in east Texas. So I was in east Texas about 30 miles away. I knew a bunch of guys like him. Texas and Oklahoma has always been full of big hearted, generous spirited, hard working guys who loved to have a good time and breaking the rules while loving their mothers and fearing their fathers. That is Matthew. His stories of growing up ring very true to me.
He lived life large and worked hard. He went to the University of Texas and found himself in the almost hippieville there. He started out wanting to be an attorney and then decided he wanted to make films and his Dad gave him his blessing.
My favorite quote from the book is: “I have a lot of proof that the world is a conspiracy to make me happy.” I have to confess, that I believe the same things about me. I have lived a charmed life. Sure I have had a lot of bad things happen to me and the people I love that have made me feel really bad but somehow I stay pretty happy almost all the time. Generally things go my way, not that I could be considered a big success or anything.
Anyway, this book is like his movies. A smooth easy read. Much of it might be true. I recommend Greenlights very highly.
“I have a lot of proof that the world is a conspiracy to make me happy.” I do think when you look for good, it appears – maybe not in the way you envisioned it, but in a way that is life enhancing down the road.
I started the audio of this but DNF because of TMI. I may be a prude, but I don’t need to know what he did in private. Not necessary! I was really enjoying the book too. If he had left those parts out I would have given the book a 5*.