Quite often, I become a fan of an artist more than her/his main art, but, in this case, I’m a fan of both artist and art, even more now that I’ve gotten a bigger peek into his psyche and soul. (With all due respect and to avoid syllabic fatigue, from now on I’ll refer to Matthew McConnaughey as MMC.) “Good looks don’t cook the dinner,” he writes, “but they’ll get you a seat at the table.” Beyond that, his moxie, his adventuresomeness, his risk-taking – his giddyup – were and are the rocket boosters for that original genetic good luck. Born to be a Southern boy knockout (despite horrible acne as a kid), he has biology on fleek. While I can’t say why he resisted that expectable opener, I can say that I did because there’s a much worthier one in regard to Greenlights and its illustrious author: “biology and giddyup.” Out of all the book’s numerous witty/memorable phrases, “ biology and giddyup” (italicized, emboldened) essentializes McConnaughey’s essence, advent and ascent. One could safely say that the actor and that memorable, quotable catchphrase are synonymous.

As I embark on this review, I’m surprised by two things: that Matthew McConnaughey didn’t begin his autobiographical Greenlights with “Alright, alright, alright,” his fatefully improvised exclamation as local cool dude Wooderson in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused – and that I’m not beginning this review of something McConnaughey-related with “Alright, alright, alright”.

Matthew mcconaughey book review