T o assume makes an ass out of you and me, but as sweeping generalisations go, this seems fairly uncontroversial: nobody likes hearing themselves being criticised. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule – no kink shaming here – but most people aren’t fans.

Which is why a recent admission from Matthew McConaughey is unusual. The Hollywood actor revealed that he once spent two days in the desert reading 20 years’ worth of negative reviews about himself.

I love everything about this. Each detail is perfect: the setting, the duration of the pursuit and the period spanned by the reviews, the narcissistic/anti-narcissistic intent, the ridiculousness, the pretension, the commitment.

“I read every one,” McConaughey said on the podcast Build or Break , while wearing tinted sunglasses inside and the sort of hat last seen on The Only Way Is Essex. “I sat with them – I spent two days looking. It was hard.”

The mental image this conjures up is a gift – nay, payback.…