The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch & Jeffrey Zaslow

Hardback Edition

I remember a few years ago, when Randy Pausch'a Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon became an internet sensation and also hearing about it through various media news outlets. So, when I came across a used copy of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch & Jeffrey Zaslow at our local Friends of the Used Library Bookstore not long ago, I decided to read it.

I enjoyed reading The Last Lecture. It's a heartwarming read and more inspirational than sad. Although, I must admit that the last two chapters of The Last Lecture did have me in tears just to let you know. I enjoyed reading the short chapters that read more like sound bites. I not only learned about Randy Pausch's life, how he met his wife, and other essentials that one expects to learn about the life of someone who is writing about their life... But Pausch also imparts pearls of wisdom that are meaningful, poignant, and worthwhile in incorporating into ones own life or at very least keep in mine. He's one of the most positive people I've ever read.

Here's an overview of The Last Lecture from the Barnes and Noble website:

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

I'm giving The Last Lecture a rating of 8 stars out of 10 stars!

Until my next post, happy reading!!