Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow - The Last Lecture

Pros: enjoyable read with great insight given; pictures throughout
Cons: ending was particularly sad

Wearing a Disney logo and name badge from his work as a Disney Imagineer, Randy Pausch gives, literally, his last lecture to his Carnegie Mellon University colleagues, students and friends just a month after receiving the news that he had but six months ...

Pros: An emotional, touching story of one man's life. It is about living, not dying.
Cons: Keep a tissue box nearby.

... Update below, July 2008 What would you do if you were told you had three months to live..?? ...six months to live..?? What if you had three young children, all under five years of age..?? ...and a loving wife..?? What would you do..?? ...

Pros: One has to be kind and compassionate with a dying man
Cons: Even when he writes the worst book ever written....

Last year I promised that next time I move I will shed 5% my book collection. I know it will be difficult, because I love my books. This book, however, is already on the list. This work, which can be read in a couple of hours, is based on Randy ...

Pros: Meaning. Relevance. Heartbreaking and Uplifting.
Cons: None.

Preamble It's been awhile since anyone or anything (or any product) has moved me enough to want to write about it and share it with all of you. But here it is and if there's only one book that your purchase this year, then let it be this one - ...

Pros: contains many useful life lessons and truths, broken into short chapters, easy to read
Cons: reading the words of a dying man

Although I usually stick to chick-lit and cheesy romance novels for my summer reading, I was fresh out of books and willing to grab just about anything on the latest trip to Target. My husband said that he had heard about The Last Lecture on the ...

Pros: The book was easy to read, real and thought provoking.
Cons: I was saddened thinking of such a good man with such little time left.

I saw Randy Pausch on Oprah. The rest of that evening, I could not stop thinking of this man. The manner in which he was facing his terminal illness, with such total love and concern for his family and bravery really grabbed my attention. When I watched ...

Pros: easy reading that can make a positive change
Cons: sometimes it's unbelievable that a guy had this much good fortune, even if cancer stricken

A string of 61 brief chapters make up this fabulous, inspirational book advising on how life is best lived. It comes from the eyes, words, thoughts, and experiences of a very intelligent man who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at a time when, even ...

Pros: easy to read, not too long, very moving
Cons: none except I wish it were longer!

Randy Pausch is many things: witty, funny, kind, compassionate, smart, and charming. He is also a father, a brother, a son, a dad, someone’s cousin, and a pretty amusing uncle. Randy Pausch is also a computer science professor at Carnegie ...

Pros: The book is funny, inspirational, uplifting, and addicting.
Cons: I don't have any complaints. I loved every minute.

This has become one of my favorite books.  It is a well written story about the author who is dying of pancreatic cancer.  He basically writes the story giving life advice that he hopes one day his very young children will follow.  It is a very uplifting story because it makes you question what is important in life. I won't ruin the book, but there is a part where he pours a whole can of soda in his new car, just to prove to his niece and nephew that there were more important things in life than materialistic possessions.

Although I cried several times during the book, I laughed a lot too.  The author really does not like to have a self-pity party about dying, but would rather enjoy and be happy about the last few months he has. That takes guts, especially when you have 3 young children who most likely will not remember you. The book has various pictures in it of him growing up and his family.  It is easy to read and addicting; my husband read it in one day. I will definitely reread this book and would recommend it, especially if you are looking for meaning and inspiration in your life.

Pros: Every page in this book has something valuable to offer the reader.
Cons: When the book ended I felt I had lost a dear friend.  

I have always believed that a life well-lived alleviates regrets. Randy Pausch reaffirmed this for me.  He set goals for himself, wrote them down, and went about living his life with intent and purpose.  When it same to dying he continued his love of life by living as though he was living not as though he was dying.  This is a book I will go back to again and again to find wise words, a source of strength and the certainty that we are here for a higher purpose than just the human journey.

Pros: I loved it.  Never lost my attention.
Cons: I wish I could have read this sooner.  I will definately be living life different.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is written as a last bit of advice for his children for when he is gone.  Randy is given 3-6 months to live when he is diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and his three children are all under the age of 5.  They wouldn't understand all the advice Randy wants to give them if he gave it to them before he died.  So he writes his Last Lecture and presents it to over 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University.  Randy's hopes were that with people being there for his lecture and his children being able to see people agreeing and laughing along with their dad, it would mean more to his children and let them agree more with what he has to say.  It was a amazing book and I highly recommend it to everyone, as everyone can take something away with them from this Last Lecture.  OSU Comp II Student Spring 2009