Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 004.092
EAN: 9781401323257
Format: Roughcut
ISBN: 1401323251
Label: Hyperion
Manufacturer: Hyperion
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: 2008-04-08
Publisher: Hyperion
Release Date: 2008-04-08
Studio: Hyperion

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."
--Randy Pausch

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.

Customer Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Comment: I am 62 years old and it has been quite a while since I have read a book that made me laugh out loud on one page and openly shed tears on the next. I have shared the book with my daughters and friends. There is much to be learned here. I intend to read it again--this time with a highlighter.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: outstanding
Comment: If you haven't read this book by now, you need to. The most enjoyable, heart wrenching book I have read in a long long time. I laughed with him, cried for them and pray for his family's loss and his peace.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Touching, educational, inspiring
Comment: Inspiring, educational in that it has great life lessons. A fast, easy and wonderful read.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Last Lecture
Comment: An outstanding story by a special person - Randy Pausch faced a terminal disease with courage, humor, and a selfless generosity. He teaches all of us a lesson on how to live, even in the face of death. His story is an inspiration to all of us.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Uplifting Tragedy
Comment: This book was a wonderful, uplifting look at the terrible fate of pancreatic cancer in a relatively young man. The thoughts given by Randy Pausch were inspiring and provided many insights on bettering your life. I have recommended this to the local hospice bbok club.

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