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| The Last Lecture CD | 
 enlarge | Author: Randy Pausch
Creator: Erik Singer
Publisher: Hyperion Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy New: $10.97
You Save: $10.98 (50%)
New (40) Used (20) from $10.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  794 reviews
Sales Rank: 651
Format: Audiobook, Unabridged
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.9 x 5.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 1401391443
Dewey Decimal Number: 004.092
EAN: 9781401391447
ASIN: 1401391443
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 not for me June 9, 2008
19 out of 23 found this review helpful
I hate to disagree with virtually all of America, including Oprah, but I found this book very disappointing. Perhaps it is because I have been fortunate to know other amazing people who approached death with wisdom and humor, but - for whatever reason - I was simply not impressed. (full disclosure - I hated Tuesdays with Morrie, too) Randy Pausch is far more entertaining and inspirational in his "last lecture" than he is here, and that's okay. It is not his job to inspire or entertain me; he clearly has more important things to attend to. I understand that he wrote the book so his children would have this reminder of him later, and I hope they treasure it. I sympathize with him and his family as they deal with his disease, I wish him well, but I still think I wasted money buying his book.
 A Great Memoir July 17, 2008
19 out of 23 found this review helpful
Many of us tend to drift through life, watching a lot of TV, wasting time in long lines, dealing with "squeaky doors" but not thinking much about how what we do today helps our long term goals and priorities. It usually takes a serious wake-up call for us to realize how precious life is.
Randy Pausch got such a wake-up call. Although he seemed really healthy on the outside, and was a brilliant professor, doctors found that cancer was attacking his systems. He had only a 5% chance of surviving more than five years. He fought the cancer aggressively, but soon it traveled to other parts of his body and his doctors were giving him 3-6 months of healthy living. This is a man who, after waiting a while for marriage, had a family of three small children. Coincidentally, Randy was also asked by his school to give a "last lecture". These lectures are traditional speeches where a teacher tells the audience what knowledge he'd want to impart if he was going to die soon. Since Randy was in fact going to die soon, it made the meaning that much more powerful to him.
Randy's lecture was videotaped and spread like wildfire on YouTube. This book is in essence a follow up to that talk. It describes the context for the talk, and goes over some of the background details for it, but it also expands and offers much more information about Randy, his life and his philosophy.
The key message here is to live in the present, to enjoy what you have. There are always stumbling blocks in life, brick walls that you run into. Your task is not to complain about them, but to barrel your way through. Show your commitment to your dreams and goals. Don't waste your time watching repeats of TV shows when your life-long dream is to run a bakery. Spend your time researching, planning and heading towards that goal. If you have always wanted to hike in the Grand Canyon, don't dismiss it while you spend your extra hours playing video games. Map out a budget, take on a second job, and save up the money. You would be very surprised at how many goals are actually within reach if you focus on them.
You could say that Randy's message is one we've read before, hundreds of times, in other similar books. Sure, that is probably true. However, each of us responds to different language, to different mental images. It might be that someone read 10 other books on similar topics and didn't "get it" - but when they read this one suddenly it clicks. That's the way our brains are. There is always something new to learn from each person's story if we pay attention. Randy's message is to really enjoy the good things you have, rather than obsessing about the problems. We all have blessings in our lives, if we look honestly at our world.
I really like how Randy talks about the students he's influenced, and how they go on to influence others. That is so key in our world. If we are able to lead by example, and help others get onto a healthy path, that causes ripple effects that can go on for years. It is so worthwhile to take the time to help out others. You never know what small gesture will really affect someone's life.
Is this an "ultimate book"? I wouldn't say that. However, it has valuable information in it, and I definitely would recommend that people at least borrow it from the library and read through it. It's a healthy reminder of what is important in life.
Highly recommended!
This is a simple and insightful book April 11, 2008
18 out of 22 found this review helpful
"The Last Lecture" is filled with common sense advice about how to live your life. You don't have to be dying from cancer to understand the insights he is talking about. My favorite tip from this book is to don't complain and just work harder. I really like his attitude about brick walls. Brick walls should motivate people to work hard. They are not obstacles that are meant to stop us. Other pieces of advice this computer science professor offers is to work hard, show gratitude and never to give up. The best way to get someone to help you is sinply to be honest with them. The other important thing I learned is to cherrish feedback from other people and use it. Randy Pausch also encourages people to be prepared and to focus on other people and not yourself. This is a simple and insightful book.
 Watch the video April 28, 2008
16 out of 21 found this review helpful
I thought this book would be as moving as the video. It was not. I'm glad he wrote it for his kids, they will love it. I did not. :(
 Too Much Filler ... April 13, 2008
15 out of 19 found this review helpful
It would be pretty easy to quickly apply a 5 star rating to Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture" and move on. After all, there is an eerie fascination about a book written by someone who has been told that he has limited time left in an unfinished life. In fact, the first half of the book is exceedingly compelling - the emotional, gut wrenching diagnosis that moistens your eyes, and the decision to videotape his final lecture at Carnegie Mellon for the future benefit of his very young children. And the way he went about the process is quite moving too - multitaskingly dictating his thoughts to Jeffrey Zaslow as he rides his bicycle to save time while remaining fit, and ensuring that his message is completed - even overcoming the understandable objections of his wife in the process. You have to absolutely admire his determination to remain positive and to fight his incurable disease so positively.
And, his final lecture is nothing short of an inspiration. One can only imagine the emotion in the Carnegie Mellon auditorium as Mr. Pausch bared his thoughts and feelings and motivations to his students and colleagues.
I wish that the book had ended with a summation of events after the lecture. Unfortunately, it seems that at that point the book may have produced more motivation than page length, so, Pausch did what other college professors seem to need to do - add a series of well intended, but redundantly reinvented life tips common in self-help books (see Gladwell's "Blink" and "The Tipping Point" as examples). Frankly, I thought the additional filler pages detracted from the primary reason of the book, especially since they offered little in new insight.
Nevertheless, you have to admire Mr. Pausch. He tells his story directly and forthrightly, and without wallowing in self pity. Rather than making his readers uncomfortable in his predicament, he helps create the urgency for them to use their time more wisely and well. It's a very good lesson from a most substantive person who you cannot help but pull for.
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