The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, Illustrated Hardcover, 224 Pages
Description
An illustrated hardcover, 224 pages, by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow.
Pausch was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon who had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer when he was asked to give a talk in the university's Last Lecture series. The talk he gave, titled Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, was about overcoming obstacles, helping other people reach their goals, and making use of the time you have. This book grew out of it. Zaslow, whose Wall Street Journal column brought the lecture wide attention, worked with Pausch on the book.
Winner of the Books for a Better Life Award in 2008, and the Virginia Readers Choice and Grand Canyon Reader Awards in 2010. Written at a reading level accessible to older teenagers as well as adults.
Hardcover, 5.1 by 7.1 inches, 1 inch thick. Published April 2008.
Please note this book was written by someone facing a terminal diagnosis and deals directly with mortality and legacy.
Why It Matters
These books do a few things that little else does. They put words to thoughts that are difficult to say out loud, which can make it easier to start a conversation with the people you love. They offer company from someone who understands the territory, without asking anything of you. And they often turn toward legacy, what you want to pass on and how you want to be remembered, which is a question that arrives whether or not anyone invites it.
Timing matters more here than with almost anything else. Some people want this early, some much later, and some never, and none of those is the wrong answer. If you are choosing one as a gift, it is worth knowing where the person is before it arrives unannounced.
Grief and mortality are not the only reasons to read one, either. Many people come away thinking mostly about how they want to spend an ordinary Tuesday.
An illustrated hardcover, 224 pages, by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow.
Pausch was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon who had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer when he was asked to give a talk in the university's Last Lecture series. The talk he gave, titled Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, was about overcoming obstacles, helping other people reach their goals, and making use of the time you have. This book grew out of it. Zaslow, whose Wall Street Journal column brought the lecture wide attention, worked with Pausch on the book.
Winner of the Books for a Better Life Award in 2008, and the Virginia Readers Choice and Grand Canyon Reader Awards in 2010. Written at a reading level accessible to older teenagers as well as adults.
Hardcover, 5.1 by 7.1 inches, 1 inch thick. Published April 2008.
Please note this book was written by someone facing a terminal diagnosis and deals directly with mortality and legacy.
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