The Last Lecture Reviews

• If "he not busy being born is busy dying", Randy Pausch is immortal

  
  By A1725KPO7A5ULX on 2008-04-08
  One of the staples of "the college experience" at many schools is the "last lecture" --- a beloved professor sums up a lifetime of scholarship and teaching as if he/she were heading out the door for the last time. It's the kind of tweed-jacket-with-elbow-patches talk that may or may not impart useful knowledge and lasting inspiration, but almost surely gives all present some warm and fuzzy feelings.
  
  But a "last lecture" by Randy Pausch was different in every possible way. The professor of Computer Science, Human Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University was just 46, and this really was his last lecture --- he was dying.
  
  And dying fast. In the summer of 2006, Pausch had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a ferociously efficient killer. Only 4% of its victims are alive five years after diagnosis. Most die much faster. Think months, not years.
  
  Pausch fought back. Surgery. Chemo. Progress. But in August of 2007, the cancer returned --- and now it had metastasized to his liver and spleen. The new prognosis: 3-6 months of relative health, then a quick dispatch to the grave, leaving behind a wife and three little kids.
  
  On September 18, 2007 --- less than a month later --- Randy Pausch gave his last lecture.
  
  No one would have faulted him for launching a blast about desperately seizing opportunities in an irrational universe. Instead, Pausch delivered a laugh-filled session of teaching stories about going after your childhood dreams and helping others achieve theirs and enjoying every moment in your life --- even the ones that break your heart. Pausch's philosophy, in brief: "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
  
  The lecture was taped, and slapped up on YouTube. Jeffrey Zaslow wrote about it in The Wall Street Journal, and news shows made Pausch "person of the week" --- and soon Pausch had a book deal reported to be worth almost $7 million. Few expected him to be alive when it was published.
  
  On February 19, I interviewed Randy Pausch for Reader's Digest. To the surprise of many --- including Pausch --- he was still his recognizable, energetic self. As I write (in early April, 2008), Pausch reports he's recovering from a standing eight count. But his good news doesn't deceive him. He notes that pancreatic cancer did to the photographer Dith Pran ("The Killing Fields") what Pol Pot couldn't --- it buried him in three months.
  
  And now we have the book. It's two books, really, because it reads one way with the author still among us and will surely read differently when "The Last Lecture" is like the The Butterfly and the Diving Bell --- the record of a dead man, talking. The first book invites your support and gives you a wake-up call. The second, I suspect, is also a wake-up call but, between the lines, reminds you that even happiness can't save you from death.
  
  Somewhere in between --- in the quiet space where a book really lives --- is a document that accomplishes a lot in 200 pages. It's about paying attention to what you think is important (when asked how he got tenure early, Pausch replied, "Call me at my office at 10 o'clock on Friday night and I'll tell you") and working hard and listening really well. It's easy to miss that last part of that in the emotion and the stories surrounding this book, but Pausch argues that hearing what other people say about you and your work is crucial to success and happiness. Because this is what you get: "a feedback loop for life."
  
  So, if you must, shed your tears for Randy Pausch. Imagine what it would be like if you or your dearest loved one drew the card called pancreatic cancer. And then put dying aside, and get on with your dreams. Amazing how many you can achieve if you want them badly enough. And how they have the power to cushion the pain when the bad stuff happens.
  
  Sounds crazy, I know: Pollyanna in the cancer ward. But I talked with the guy. And we laughed and laughed. Of all the achievements in a life that's winding down, that's got to be up there.
  
  
  
  

• The life and dying of a decent man

  
  By AYCJSA9HR7TKO on 2008-04-10
  At one point in my life, I spent a couple of years as a hospital chaplain, ministering pretty regularly to folks who were dying. I discovered one thing: generally people died as they had lived. How a person approaches his or her dying reveals a great deal about the values, character traits, dispositions, and attitudes with which they navigated the business of living.
  
  What comes through clearly in Randy Pausch's little book is that he's a guy who's incredibly decent and loving. He writes warmly of his childhood and his parents; he assures us that he's achieved just about every goal he dreamed of as a youth; he appears to be a good and dedicated teacher; he loves his wife and kids; and even when he assures us that he, like everyone else, has personality issues that need working on--he is, he tells us, a "recovering jerk"--his admitted foibles seem pretty tame. Pausch is Joe Everyperson.
  
  I think that's the value of his Last Lecture. Pausch clearly isn't of a philosophical bent of mind. If you pick up his book looking for profound existential discussions about human frailty and mortality (as, I confess, I did), you're not going to find them. I've no doubt that, since the onslaught of his illness, he and his wife Jai have endured despairing dark nights of the soul, paralyzing bouts of panic, and heart-pounding rage against the dying of the light. But except for very rare intimations, Pausch draws a veil over such episodes, and instead offers a mixture of autobiographical reflections and homespun tips on making the most of life (such as managing time, re-thinking priorities, and learning to listen to others). As he tells us, his final lecture to us is about life more than death.
  
  Pausch's ability to hang onto the everyday, to the ordinary aspects of life even as his own draws to an end, is both the book's strength and its weakness. It's a strength in that it spotlights human courage and compassion, and in this regard The Last Lecture is an inspirational success. But one also senses that Pausch's insistence on staying on the surface of things might suggest a deep resistance to the unsettling fact that the surface of things is inexorably slipping away from him. One can talk candidly about one's death without having come to terms with the reality of what one's saying.
  
  I say this without any intent whatsoever of making a value judgment. Each of us copes with death the best we can, and I have no window into Pausch's soul. It's just that after reading (and rereading) his book, I don't really feel as if I've come to know him. Although The Last Lecture is the story of Randy Pausch's life and dying, I sometimes got the uncanny impression that he wasn't really in it. At the end of the book, I felt as if I'd gotten to know his wife, Jai, better than I knew Pausch.
  
  But these reservations should be taken as they're intended: reflections, not necessarily criticisms, of a moving story about a man confronting the mystery all of us must face. Pausch's book, the chronicle of an ordinary man trying to die as decently as he lived, is well worth reading.
  
  

• I can't recommend buying this.

  
  By ANFQDYUK4T3NA on 2008-04-18
  I really liked the lecture. I've downloaded both Prof. Pausch's time management lecture and this one. So I'm a fan. I have nothing against Prof. Pausch, though I do think that his friends jokingly calling him "St. Randy" is pretty funny. I see a lot of hero-worship of him on the web.
  He's a very charismatic, very intelligent, very passionate guy. These are great qualities. They also make his last lecture fun to watch.
  
  But the book is just that, a book. And while I'm sure those who have seen the lecture can imagine Prof. Pausch (okay, I don't know the man, but he seems like a first-name kind of guy-as opposed to a "title" sort of person, and I'm definitely a first-name kind of person, so I'm going to switch to calling him Randy now.) saying the words, there's a lot lost without seeing Randy's passion.
  The book has some more stories from Randy's life, and there's some elaboration on some of the ones he does talk about, but Randy's a good professor. He really distilled the most important and most interesting parts into his lecture (with the possible exception of wooing his wife, Jai, but I found that story not substantially more compelling or instructive than his grad school admission story). Actually, let me sum it up for you: they met while he was visiting a campus where she was studying, her job was to host him, they went on a date, she doesn't want a long-distance relationship, he sends her flowers and she changes her mind, they get more serious, she gets scared while he's down there for a seminar and he gives her support by checking in on her a bit, she realizes she loves him.
  
  This is a pretty short book. Frankly, the extra stories and the elaboration beyond the lecture don't make it worth the money when the lecture-with the advantage of seeing Randy's personality-is available for free.
  I did have some qualms about writing this review; after all, Randy puts the lecture and transcript of his last lecture out there for free. And if I'd only seen the video once and couldn't see it again, I'd most likely want the book. So in a sense, I'm penalizing the book for that generosity. On the other hand, if I had never seen the video, this is probably not a book that I would buy. There are a lot of good self-help books out there and I'd probably flip through this book, decide there was too much stuff about computers in there and too much of the same old stuff in not an exceptionally well-done way and leave it on the shelf.
  If you're curious, I'd check it out at the library or flip through it in the book store. But don't buy this book sight unseen.
  
  If the book had touted that all or even some of its proceeds went to pancreatic cancer research, I would have bought the book. Out of guilt, if nothing else. I really enjoy listening to the lecture and it's free and I'd like to give something back for that. But there was no mention of any kind of donation of the sort. Actually, donations to an organization like that might be the best way to show gratitude and support.
  
  

• Very Disappointing.

  
  By A20M0UQ3R1RPYP on 2008-04-14
  I was looking forward to reading "The Last Lecture," but was left empty and feeling duped. There is very little substance of any kind in this book leading me to believe that the vast majority of the over-the-top glowing reviews here are from the author's family and friends who want to help him out in his time of need. Check this book out at your local library before you lay down hard-earned coin to buy this one.
  
  The fact is, his incredibly trite and trivial ruminations on his life and advice for readers ring hollow and flat. There's just no depth. It doesn't help that there is nothing in this book you haven't heard a thousand times already (e,g, "never give up," "no job is beneath you," "dream big," etc.)
  
  Unfortunately, this is little more than a highly commercial and contrived series of very short, and in some cases mind-numbingly boring and strangely boastful stories about very ordinary experiences in Pausch's life without any real context, meaning or value. This book is a two-hour read.
  
  To enjoy a book like this, you have to care deeply about the author. I just couldn't/didn't -- despite desperately wanting to. He's just not a terribly likeable or very interesting guy. As an insightful/meaningful/interesting/entertaining read, this book makes "All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" look like a Pulitzer Prize winner.
  
  If you're looking for real insight into what it means to be human in the face of illness and death, check out Peter Barton's book "A Short Life Well Lived." It's head and shoulders above this tripe. Best wishes, Mr. Pausch, to you and your family during this difficult time, but this book is largely rambling nonsense.
  
  

• A Big Gift in a Small Package

  
  By A1A20UNYJRMF0N on 2008-04-09
  As I opened the shipping box from Amazon.com, I found two preordered copies of Randy Pausch's book, one for my family and one for whoever needs it most within the next few weeks. This could be a friend or business acquaintance who has reached some personal crisis or turning point. I'll know. Randy's message will find the right recipient.
  
  This book is a very large gift in its compact, neatly bound actuality. It is a gift of hope and affirmation.
  
  Two weeks ago I said good-bye to a friend and business colleague who at 58 died of pancreatic cancer. His was a more private passing, but nevertheless he fought the disease until the disease won, and he died with dignity. Two days before his death, he called a mutual friend to wish this friend good luck with minor corrective surgery. Even two days before death, my stricken friend was thinking of others' welfare. As I sat in his memorial service with 300 other mourners, watching a slide presentation of his photographs and original art, I also thought about Randy Pausch. The two personalities mixed together because they share so many of the same qualities: creativity, gusto for living, a sense of humor, lifelong dedication to giving back to their communities, and a profound faith in personal power.
  
  This is the story of The Last Lecture: that we can face any challenge in this life as long as we welcome our fate with optimism and determination to confront all odds. We can live for the welfare of others.
  
  The good professor is his own metaphor. In this final gift, he both teaches and does.
  
  Much will be said about this book and its immediate iconic impact on a nation experiencing the doldrums of war, economic turmoil and loss of standing among other nations. Here in the story of one American sharing the wisdom of our universal humanity, our fragility, our mortality. Here's one of our best and brightest.
  
  In the ways of passionate storytellers, Randy Pausch and coauthor Jeffry Zaslow tell us how to achieve the most vital of all human yearnings: realization of childhood dreams. Within this narrative are timeless lessons of showing gratitude, setting goals, keeping commitments, tolerating frustration, maintaining a sense of humor in the face of adversity, telling the truth, working hard, celebrating victories when they arrive, and choosing to be a fun-loving Tigger over a sad-sack Eeyore.
  
  Life is short, much shorter now for this professor. And this "last lecture" is no less significant for the young and healthy as it is for the sick and old.
  
  Dream big, reach for the stars now.
  
  
  
• One of the most important books of our time
  By A27RF5D8OAIU1F on 2008-04-09
  Do whatever you can to get a hold of this book. If everyone lived the way Randy talks about in this book the world would be not only a better place but the BEST place.
  
  
• Awesome, Inspiring, Wonderful
  By A1096SGUV64EO9 on 2008-04-09
  In 1989, I had a massive heart attack at the age of 44. The next two years consisted of a tumultuous downward spiral as my heart deteriorated into chaotic attacks of arrhythmia and deliberating heart failure.
  
  If I could have read this book then, it would have helped me better see the roses, the tulips, and the petunias.
  
  By the grace of God, I triumphed. I received a heart transplant on Easter morning in 1991.
  
  If you are facing a life-threatening illness, hardships, or are just having a lousy day - read this book, and read it this week.
  
  Author of: Mr. NewHeart (New Heart): Heart Attack to Transplant and Beyond
  
  You may preview a free copy of my next book if you Google "david hollar the face of war."
  
  
  I also recommend A Step of Faith - an inspiring story to help get you through the month.
  
  
• I guess I'm the only one who can't stand this guy
  By A32AU7H3FTI397 on 2008-04-11
  The heart of this book is Randy's video lecture, and in the video lecture, I found this guy insufferable -- unbearably smug, self-aggrandizing and self-congratulatory. The lecture is basically 76 minutes of him blowing his own horn. He takes an occasional break from telling us how great he is and how exemplary his life has been to fling us bits of wisdom: "Help others. Don't give up. Be good at something. Tell the truth." These are no doubt laudable but perhaps not quite original sentiments. If he weren't dying, would everyone be treating it like the holy grail? I'm very sorry he's so ill, and I admire him for being brave about it, but I think the hype surrounding this lecture is ludicrous.
  
  
• expected more!
  By A3NXYXJJWHT6Q1 on 2008-04-16
  First, it sucks randy's dying...yet, I guess we all are dying.
  
  I thought this book was going to be an inspirational look at DREAMS...but seemed like the first part was a diary with little insight.
  
  I actually walked away thinking about Randy's ego rather than trying to be inspirational, as many seem to take his speech and book. My view of Randy didn't improve after reading the book.
  
  Something that I caught as odd was his comment about his wife Jai. He says IF she remarries. Hmmm, well, she is like 39. I would kinda hope that Randy wants her to remarry. Does he actually think she is going to mourn him for the next 40 years?
  
  I really don't want to be a person that is so negative about a bad situation....but this book should have NEVER BEEN PUBLISHED. His lecture should have been the phenomenon it was - without a book.
  
  Save your money and give any donation direct to the family or cancer research. The book publishers should not gain for printing something that shouldn't have been printed.
  
  
  
• Too much ego
  By A1LAPZQDZD4G2K on 2008-04-21
  I really wanted to like this book, but was left quite disappointed. I found it lacking in the introspective inspiration a dying man might render. Rather, we get lots about Randy, and his accomlishments. This is not a book about pending death. Nor is it one about "lessons learned" from a life well lived. This is a very brief ego blast from one who realizes he has few such opportunities left to him.
  
  Early in the book he spoke of the conflict present when he chose to give the lecture on the day of his wife's birthday. It would be the last such day they would have together, and yet he opted to give the lecture anyway, despite his wife's wishes to the contrary. This is not the story of a dying man, but that of an ego out of control.
  
  I was left with the sense that the author was using his death as a platform for a last "it's all about me" lecture. This is unfortunate, coming from an obviously intelligent and talented individual. I'm certainly glad others have found it to be a wise purchase, but I can't say I feel that way.
  
  
• Amazing!
  By A2U0ERCX9OWWLG on 2008-04-10
  This is the most amazing piece of writing that I have read in a long time. It is so inspirational. It is a must read for everyone, especially the soon-to-be college graduate. Also, if you are interested in another great read check out: "Prose From A Grandson To A Senior Fellow" by Derek McFadden. It would be a great companion to this book.
  
  
• The Passion of Living!
  By A38IOPJOYGFS5G on 2008-06-15
  I am so inspired by Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture", and his insight on living life to the fullest. I am grateful that in his final months of living, he is sharing his jewels of wisdom that he has discovered in his lifetime. And jewels they are! I love how he has fulfilled his childhood dreams and at the same time, supports others to follow their dreams as well - including me. His passion reminds me that life is precious, and when I approach my life as if everything matters, and when I meet each day with integrity, life can be magical. Randy Pausch doesn't take one moment for granted, and his book is a testament to passionate living.
  
  Other books that have inspired me to live my life to its fullest, are Ariel & Shya Kanes' Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment, Working on Yourself Doesn't Work: A Book About Instantaneous Transformation, and How To Create a Magical Relationship. By reading their books and listening to their internet radio show, "Being Here", I have discovered how to live my life in the moment - with consistency. The moment is where magic exists! It is so easy to develop this skill set. Easier than I had ever imagined. Thanks to the Kanes, the magic that Randy Pausch describes in his book is possible for everyone to access immediately.
  
  
• Dream Big...Dream Without Fear
  By A3UCJFWDY1DLKK on 2008-05-22
  After watching Randy's lecture called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" on YouTube I was blown away by his honesty, clarity and forthrightness in conveying life lessons he has discovered. And soon after I ordered this book which is the written version of that humorous and inspiring lecture.
  
  One of the ideas in his book is what Randy calls "head fake" where you learn an important lesson in an indirect way. I was reminded of my parents sending me out to my many childhood softball, tennis, skiing or golf lessons. At the time thinking I was just learning the skill sets of these sports but really learning so many other skills that have and continue to carry me through my achievements and successes. Those lessons instilled in me a deep impression of responsibility, commitment, knowing I make a difference and the importance of having play time and fun in my life. I so appreciate my parents unwavering commitment to me and my siblings in supporting us in our sporting life lesson adventures.
  
  If you found Randy's book inspiring, I highly recommend checking out any one or all of Ariel and Shya Kane's books, Working on Yourself Doesn't Work: A Book About Instantaneous Transformation, Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment or How To Create a Magical Relationship. Each of the Kane's books have the idea of "Instantaneous Transformation" woven through the stories and ideas presented. Where through Instantaneous Transformation an ordinary mundane life can transform into a brilliant life adventure without work or effort.
  
  Want to know more or curious about living the best life possible? Then go ahead and read either one or all of these incredibly inspiring books that can guide you in achieving your own dream life.
  
  
• Inspiring!
  By AV44NCH7K65PC on 2008-04-10
  Just as inspiring as his famous "Last Lecture" and with some very interesting and moving additional material. Zaslow has done a great job retaining Pausch's voice in the writing without making it seem like you're reading a transcript of a telephone conversation. If you liked the video, you'll love the book. If you haven't seen the video, you'll love the book.
  
  
• A Fantastic Gift
  By AZAIV6MWCK9T4 on 2008-06-11
  This guy is fantastic! What a gift he has shared with the world, a personal gift to people he will never know. He speaks from his heart with a genuine love of people and a desire to share with us all his astonishing awareness of what matters in life.
  It is a plea of sorts to humanity to have FUN because life is very short, to give of yourself and to take care of the people around you because that is the most incredible legacy a person can leave. He gives us unusual awareness, brought by a terminal disease, that most people never have until they are also in his position, if at all.
  Read this book! And if you enjoy this kind of awareness, about living in this moment with fun and generosity, you will love Ariel and Shya Kanes' extraordinary books,
  Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment and How To Create a Magical Relationship. They are beautiful, life inspiring books like 'The Last Lecture', that offer us the chance to experience the heightened awareness Mr. Pausch is describing. Many thanks to these three authors.
  
  
  
• One of a Kind
  By A2XQ1EQYVY168K on 2008-04-10
  When I first heard from Randy that he had pancreatic cancer, I knew that cancer picked the wrong guy to mess with.
  
  The Last Lecture has Randy's timeless insight on living and loving life, though he is also an incredible advocate for pancreatic cancer research. May all the attention being given to the book lead to tremendous support for eradicating this horrible cancer that has a 95% mortality rate within 5 years.
  
  Read this book and watch Randy's lecture on YouTube. As cliche as it sounds, you will never see the world the same way again.
  
  In The Last Lecture, Randy discusses Alice [...], which is a free virtual reality program that makes it really easy to create 3D movies and stories, while learning computer programming. It's great for kids, and adults who are kids at heart. Just like the Last Lecture has helped Randy share with millions of people his philosophy on life, Randy has already helped countless students through providing Alice as a free, fun, challenging, educational program.
  
  I draw these comparisons to pancreatic cancer advocacy and Alice because they exemplify the kind of person that Randy is, and the challenges and legacies he leaves for us. And, since Randy says to "always tell the truth", I believe there is no better way for the world to honor the man than to support these things to which he gives so much.
  
  
• I don't get it...
  By A1Y4IQSXABOGF6 on 2008-05-13
  Ok. Got the book because I saw him on TV. Got to say though, there is nothing remarkable about what he says. On the whole, it is a 200 page resume. It is self-agrandizing and corney. He pretends to be sharing great lessons, but, in fact, he is using the forum to chest-pound and posture. I was greatly disappointed. I expected more thorough discussion of what someone who has just months to live thinks about...
  
  
• Should be required reading for positive psychologists. This is how wisdom is woven together into a meaningful life.
  By A2YUU8P5BZQ0GQ on 2008-04-21
  The first and only book I've ever read that made me cry through half the chapters.
  
  If you haven't seen the Youtube video, read the Parade Magazine or the Original Wall Street Journal articles that got this phenomenon off the ground, you're missing something you really want to be aware of.
  
  Randy Pausch is dying of cancer. He had surgery and chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer and it failed. He's been told he has three to six months to live, with the ten tumors in his liver that came back after his original treatment.
  
  As is traditional at many universities, he gave a "last lecture" which is usually given by elder, retiring professors. But Pausch's last lecture because an internet youtube phenomenon. And now, after the book he did with Wall Street Journal writer Jeff Zaslow is out, titled, The Last Lecture , it is a huge, runaway bestseller, so hot, that Disney's Hyperion Publishing doesn't have enough to keep the books in stock in bookstores.
  
  Now, I was lucky, after reading about Pausch's last lecture in the Wall Street Journal, I wrote to thank the article writer, and told him I'd posted it on my website.opednews dot com. A short time later, the writer offered to send me a copy to review. When my copy came in, my office manager, Rose, expressed interest in it, so I told her to go ahead and borrow it for a few days. I get a lot of review books, many unsolicited, and I only read a small percentage of them. But I knew I wanted to read this one. When I told Rose I wanted it back, so I could read it on an international flight, I asked her how she liked it. She told me she'd only read the first three chapters-- that she'd cried during reading each one. I was going on a trip with my 27 year old daughter and my better half, so, on the one hour drive to the airport, I started reading the book out loud, to them.
  
  Rose was not alone. I found myself choking up, engaging in overlong pauses and needing to clear the tears from MY eyes as Pausch told his story, and the life lessons he'd learned. I kept asking if my partner or my daughter wanted me keep reading and they had me read until we parked the car.
  
  I finished the book quickly and I have to say, it's unique. I've never read a book where over half the chapters (about 60 chapters) touch my heart AND make me cry.
  
  This book is ALL about positive psychology. It's not university research, but there's an awful lot of university wisdom. It should be required reading for positive psychologists. This is how wisdom is woven together into a meaningful life.
  
  Pausch explores, throughout the book the theme of acheiving your own childhood dreams, adult dreams, and enabling the dreams of others. He mentions early, how when he was a kid, when it came to the World book encyclopedia, "I didn't read every word, but I gave it a shot." One of his childhood dreams was to be a contributor, as an expert to the worldbook-- and eventually, it did happen. That made me think. I'm a quotationaholic, sort of like a bibliomaniac (which I also am) but for quotations. I usually leave a few quotation books in the bathroom. The quotes make perfect reading length material. I was delighted one day to have my son come up to me, holding the Book of Positive Quotations, informing me that one of my quotations was in it. That was one of those moments.
  
  Pausch, an engineer, takes lessons from his life that he wants to pass on to his very young three children and his students. He's a man who has accomplished some impressive things in his life, so that lends credibility to what would otherwise be solid, wise advise.
  
  I love his attitude towards "brick walls." When you reach a brick wall that seems unsurmountable and unpassable, he advises, "The brick walls are there for a reason. They're not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a c hance to show how badly we want something." Then he tells several stories illustrating how brick walls challenged him and how he overcame the challenges.
  
  Coming from spending over 30 years in the world of biofeedback, I was pleased to see that Pausch believes, "In the end, educators best serve students by helping them be more self-reflective. THe only way any of us can improve... is if we develop a real ability to assess ourselves. If we can't accurately do that, how can we tell if we're getting better or worse?"
  
  I love chapter 39, "Be the First Penguin." He writes that "experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. .... It's a phrase worth considering at every brick wall we encounter, and at every disappointment. It's also a reminder that failure is not just acceptable, it's often essential."
  
  Pausch tells the story that how, for the "Building Virtual Worlds" course he taught at Carnegie Mellon, he created a "First Penguin Award. "It went to the team that took the biggest gamble in trying new ideas or new technology, while failing to achieve their stated goals. In essence, it was an award for 'glorious failure' and it celebrated out-of-the-box thinking and using imagination in a daring way.
  
  "The other students came to understand: 'First Penguin' winners were losers who were definitely going somewhere.
  
  "The title of the award came fromt he notion that whne penguins are about to jump into water that might contain predators, well, somebody's got to be the first penguin."
  
  "....Start-up companies often prefer to hire a chief executive witha failed start-up in his or her background. The person who failed often knows how to avoid future failures. The person who knows only success can be more oblivious to all the pitfalls."
  
  Then he revisits the quote, "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted," adding, "And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer."
  
  
  He writes, "'Lucky' is a strange word to use to describe my situation, but a part of me does feel fortunate..." I'll let you read the book to find out why. It may me think how, a few weeks ago, while driving on a weekend ski trip to Vermont, my old college buddy was driving close to the 65 MPH speed limit, hit some black ice, fishtailed, spun 360 degrees, rolled over the guard rail, rolled two more times down a 25 foot embankment, then hit a tree that brought us to an abrupt stop. I ended up with a very knuckle, and a small abrasion on the back of my hand. The car was VERY totaled, but we both walked away, relatively unharmed, so we were able to enjoy two days of double diamond expert skiing at Killington. I knew I was lucky. But as the experience has worked on me, I've come to realize I'm actually grateful for it. It's given me a fresh approach to life. I appreciate it more and push myself a bit harder to go deeper, in my work, play and relationships.
  
  This book takes YOU to a multitude of ways of thinking about how to get more out of life. It's well worth the investment. Just throw a box of facial tissues to wipe away the tears from your eyes. I'm not kidding when I say I literally cried through over half the chapters.
  
  
• I'm sure I'll get blasted for saying this
  By A1ZEEUVUOCJKJ3 on 2008-05-07
  Honestly? This book didn't live up to my expectations. There were a few amusing anecdotes, but I didn't find anything in this book terribly inspirational. I'm sure his kids will appreciate it when they're older, though.
  
  
• This is a simple and insightful book
  By AE31M52VLKOG6 on 2008-04-11
  "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.
  
  
• Preferred the lecture and Interview
  By A9CEDJAGQ217M on 2008-04-22
  In all mediums, Randy shows exceptional courage and grace in this real-time tragic situation. I found the book good, somewhat overlapping the lecture, providing interesting details.... I found the details on his wife and children more interesting having already seen the lecture. I had hoped for more philosophical reflections rather than stories, but that's apparently his communication choice and style. His intensity and certitude left me wondering what he was like before the cancer diagnosis. In fact, other than his talent for communicating, and substantial professional achievements, I think we are left with very little idea of what the man is like aside from his consistent messages of working hard and having fun, but that may be unrealistic realizing that the book was by necessity,a rushed book. It did relate a bit more perspective around the lecture itself which was interesting. It's a quick read, I suggest checking it out at the library for an afternoon read, unless you would like to buy it simply to benefit his family. The Diane Sawyer piece is good as well.
  
  
• Too Much Filler ...
  By A3JPIE60976N2T on 2008-04-13
  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.
  
  
• Watch the video
  By A2PWBTO6VJJ76P on 2008-04-28
  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. :(
  
  
• i expected to love it, but............
  By A79RK9JDJUKCP on 2008-05-24
  What do you do when you simply don't like a book, when you want so much to love it? Especially when written by a man dying of cancer?
  
  I was so excited to read The Last Lecture when it was published, but instead of finding inspiration, I was deeply disappointed and sometimes downright irritated.
  
  A primary reason that Randy Pausch wrote this book of exceedingly short vignettes and essays was to leave a legacy of memories to his three small children, a loving and noble goal. I suppose having it published makes that all the more real.
  
  Early on, Pausch confesses to being self-absorbed and arrogant, a warning that the reader should heed. The Last Lecture isn't as much a book of inspiration, but an unabashed chronicle of Pausch's successes and greatness in life. We're to be inspired to follow our childhood dreams by way of his own: becoming an Imagineer for Walt Disney or an astronaut by flying in a zero g-force simulator. But it just doesn't ring true or realistic for more common people with more modest dreams. Instead, the book bogs down into "I-me" stories, over and over again.
  
  I'm not saying that the book is worthless, nor that it shouldn't be read. But take it for what it is -- a self-centered accounting of a life to be left for posterity -- rather than inspiration to follow your childhood dreams, a theme that is but a small portion of an already slim book, although it's touted as the main thrust of the book. There isn't much universal substance here, even when you look for it, but perhaps that's to be forgiven for a young man facing imminent untimely death at the prime of his life and career. But I will say this in closing: if there had been no "last lecture" at Carnegie Mellon or if someone with less chops than Dr Pausch had written it, the book would probably never have been published.
  
  
• A Lecture on Living
  By A2V8OR0RWPYXY5 on 2008-05-26
  Professor Randy Pausch received an invitation to give a talk in Carnegie Mellon's Last Lecture Series. The concept, shared by many universities, provides lecturers with the opportunity to give a talk as if it were her or his last. In Pausch's case, he had been recently diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer placing him in the position of giving both a figurative and a literal Last Lecture.
  
  Jeffery Zaslow worked with Pausch to write the book, The Last Lecture. The piece includes most of the content of the sixty minute lecture built into the narratives; however, I thought it would have been nice to have the text of the lecture on its own at the end as the final chapter or as an appendix.
  
  Nonetheless, throughout the book Pausch simply doles out the basics of enjoying and living life. In many places the book reads like an autobiographical eulogy, to no surprise, even though it's not supposed to be one. Like the author, I, too, am an educator. I teach, and in fact I demand that my students not state the obvious while in class. To that end, the disheartening part about The Last Lecture comes as much of its popularity stems from our friends and neighbors who don't even recognize the obvious.
  
  It's a shame that people don't think enough to use time wisely, cherish their family, send hand written thank you notes or to dare to chase their dreams, and thus need to be told to do those things in a book or a lecture. I lost my mother to cancer. She enjoyed living long before the two year battle that took her life. She always taught my three brothers and me to love and to give the world more then it gave us. I assumed that simple things like that are expected in that life is so fragile and precious.
  
  Many times while reading I was reminded of the pop song, "Every Body is Free," better known as the "Sunscreen Song." Pausch said all the obvious stuff about learning, living and loving. He fell short of Mary Schmich words set to music by Baz Luhrmann, and didn't admonish readers to floss and wear sunscreen.
  
  
• nothing new
  By A1DMA8MUCDLPJO on 2008-05-27
  This book covers no new ground, says nothing new and offers no fresh insights. What the author has said has been said numerous times by other people and in a better way. Countless better books exist on this topic so I really do not understand the fuss.
  
  If you have read other self help books, avoid this one. If you have not, start with anything better.
  
  
• Amazing Cool
  By A1QQLZGXWD1YTQ on 2008-04-11
  A wise and charming read. One of the few books that really changed my outlook and behavior. Critics may point out that some of the wisdom (enjoying the present, overcoming obstacles etc...) aren't new, but hearing them endorsed by someone who's lived them (and isn't going to let his impending death ruin his day) makes one take them seriously. Thanks, Randy!
  
  
• Our dumb luck
  By A3GCQWKU1BB2XZ on 2008-04-12
  Other positive reviews are spot on. Let us not forget that Randy Pausch's lecture was only meant as a legacy talk to his children with an audience of students, colleagues and friends. He didn't set out to write a book or go on a tour to promote it. The book is a result of his lecture getting a life of its own and many requests to expand on it. In this lies its true joy and benefit - his personal phylosophy, delivered in the same manner in which he's lived his life (with high energy and unapologetic for his extreme enthusiasm) hit the right notes with people with drastically different lives, issues and opportunities. Everyone may take away from it what they need or want and apply his simple phylosophy to themselves. After just a few minutes I forgot that he was so ill. This is no ordinary pity party. He is preparing for his end just as he lived his life.
  
  We are lucky to have access to this remarkable human being, whether through internet or his printed word. Randy's gift of positive thinking is timeless and will help anyone live a more fulfilling and generous life, what ever the starting point. How insanely ironic to think that rather than letting us grieve for him and his family, he shows by example the strength to pick up where he left off and make better choices for as long as we can. In the ABC's Diana Sawyer interview I was particualrly impressed with his amazing wife, Jai, the beauty of their partnership and the trust in total strangers as they've made a choice to expose more of their story with the world. For those who do not know - their three very young children are not aware that their father is dying. The Pausch family (and Diane)only asked the public not to share anything with the kids and let their parents deal with this very private matter when the time is appropriate.
  
  I will hand out copies of this book to everyone whom I love, starting with my darling father who is a (recent) non-hotchkins lymphoma stage 4 survivor and is remarkably like Randy Pausch in too many ways to mention. I learn from him every day. What Randy said about 'unfair' vs. 'unlucky' I heard verbatim almost a year before "The Last Lecture' delivered with the same sentiment as we dealt with the diagnosis. Perhaps it's a trait of college professors??!
  
  "The Last Lecture" may very well be "The First Lecture" for many, propelling us to be better, happier and more fulfilled for the rest of our lives. Sure, we've heard many of his points before. I don't wish to overthink why this time it smacked me like a 2x4. I would rather concentrate on doing something with this enthusiasm.
  He doesn't walk on water. Rather, he's got his feet planted firmly on the ground. In fact, he's still running on it.
  
  
• already been said before...
  By A2XI9V58HEU093 on 2008-05-27
  I'm really sorry about what this guy is going through, but then again millions of people do and don't get to write a book about it.
  
  I think it's bloody ridiculous that the main selling point of the book is almost a word-word copy of what was said over 50 years ago by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru ""Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will."
  
  So it just may confirm some people's suspicions that everything worth saying has been said before.
  
  
• Read (view) the entire thing first!
  By A2LJCYYACI8J50 on 2008-04-11
  Did all the negative reviewers of the lecture and book actually watch or read the entire thing? It wasn't directed at you, he couldn't care less about what the general public thinks; it was never intended for public consumption. It's a message to his kids about who their dad was and what he cared about and dreamt about being and a road map to help them towards their own dreams.
  Q=:-)
  
  
  
  

• An Hour to Live, an Hour to Love: The True Story of the Best Gift Ever Given
• Just Who Will You Be?: Big Question. Little Book. Answer Within. (ROUGHCUT)
• Learning from the Heart: Lessons on Living, Loving, and Listening
• Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope
• What now?