Alright Alright Alright

I’m lucky to have some really great best friends. There’s a group of us from college who have only gotten closer through the years. But the college years hold some of our clearest memories together (surprisingly considering the beverages consumed during those years).

One of those friends in particular, Matt, has been on my mind a lot in the last few days. Not for any other reason than I’ve spent the last week living alongside, so to speak, one of his man crushes.

You see, Matt was an early devotee of the school of “livin” embodied by then rom-com heartthrob Matthew McConaughey.

I’m not going to hide it from you – we gave him more than his fair share of grief over his…obsession? That may sound stronger than it’s meant.

But now, years removed, I have to admit that Matt may have been right about McConaughey. Certainly we’ve all taken note of his more dramatic films since returning to Hollywood after a self-imposed “unbranding”, but Matt was far ahead of the curve. It turns out we were all sleeping on this actor, and I’m only just waking up after emerging from his recent memoir titled Greenlights.

I’m admittedly not one who typically picks up a Hollywood memoir. The genre rarely appeals to me, with the notable exception of fellow Ohioans like Rob Lowe. But when I took in some recent interviews of McConaughey while he was digitally “touring” to promote it, my interest was piqued. I was drawn into his very public assessments of our recent failures to improve the political dialogue in our country.

More poetry than prose, McConaughey takes you through much of his non-professional life. He welcomes you into his rural Texas childhood, invites you to walk through deserts, hike mountains, swim the Amazon and wrestle African tribesmen. All the while, you can find yourself willingly accepting the adventure and giving yourself the green light to answer your own challenges.

Maybe that’s the secret sauce to why this particular Hollywood memoir stuck out to me: most of it was not about Hollywood. Instead, the piece communicated and fostered a deeper emotional connection than I would expect from most. Raw, honest, masculine. Exactly what I, perhaps, should have expected from one of our most accomplished leading men.

I dig McConaughey’s vibe in this work. I’m not ready to declare fandom on my buddy Matt’s level, but I think I get it now. I get where my buddy Matt found a kindred spirit. It also doesn’t hurt that McConaughey crossed over into genres more my speed with Interstellar and Free State of Jones. I don’t think I’ll join Matt in his annual viewing of The Wedding Planner, but I won’t be giving him as hard a time moving forward.

For now though, I’m happy to add Greenlights to the Bookshelf and recommend it to you as well. It’s my third book so far in 2021 and I’m glad I picked it up.

Greenlights is my third book so far in 2021. How are your reading goals going? What pieces have surprised you so far? I know it’s early, but maybe there’s a carryover from last year you’d be willing to recommend. Drop a note in the comments below and let me know what you’re consuming!