MIR Store - The Last Lecture CD

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Manufacturer: Hyperion Audio

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Binding: Audio CD
Dewey Decimal Number: 004.092
EAN: 9781401391447
Format: Audiobook
ISBN: 1401391443
Label: Hyperion Audio
Manufacturer: Hyperion Audio
Number Of Items: 1
Publication Date: 2008-04-01
Publisher: Hyperion Audio
Release Date: 2008-04-10
Studio: Hyperion Audio

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Deep thinking for shallow people
Comment: The Boss tortued us with the video of this clown (oh - so sorry - I know he's dead) with all of the deep thinking of a drunk at 2 am.

gee - dream big dreams. how original.

gee - I love my kids. BIG DEAL. everyone loves their kids.

gee - I am going to die. I figured that out when i was about, 9 or 10 years old, kind of freaked me out.

I got over it.

this was the biggest waste of an hour and 18 minutes of my entire life.

there was NOTHING in the lecture that anyone with a brain cell did not figure out when they were a teenager.

Unless they were really dumb and self absorbed.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Touching story but nothing original
Comment: The author's story is very sad and I was touched by many parts of the book. Would this book be so popular or even be published if the author did not have a terminal illness? I found it interesting that in the beginning, the author stated that he did not want to write about dying or his illness, but that is exactly what he should have written/lectured about. After all, the stuff that he talked about has been said countless times. There was nothing original in his lecture/book. Dr. Pausch is a very intelligent and likeable person. He could have added value to readers by conveying his experiences of dying. That is something that we all do not experience or experience very briefly at the end of our lives. I wish that the author had used his humor, eloquence, great writing skills in telling us his story of dying. That would have made it an original book.

Customer Rating:

Summary: I read it & was not moved
Comment: I found no excitement or insite in the cronical of this guys life & death.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A Thoughtful and Meaningful Book of Life Lessons
Comment: I have the utmost respect and admiration for how Randy Pausch lived his life in the face of his death. This was what was most impactful and inspirational for me. I am also greatly saddened by his death, with enormous sympathy for his family.

I did not see his last lecture, and based on what others have said about it, I think I should. I did not love this book, though I wanted to, but I did like it. While I think that he makes many excellent points about life lessons he's learned, it fell a bit short of my expectations, and, especially in the beginning, he comes across as somewhat arrogant.

He writes that he is "an acquired taste," and I found this to be true for me. By the end of the book, I saw through what I initially experienced as arrogance and found myself deeply saddened that his wife and children must live without him. I admire the lengths he went to in creating memories and memorabilia for his children. He took full advantage of the advanced notice of his death to ensure that his children would know who he was and how much he loved them. He lived his life to the fullest. Others who have seen his lecture say that he does not seem arrogant at all, but is funny, charming, and smart.

The book does offer many words of advice and wisdom and I think everyone has something to be gained from reading it. I also think the book can be used as a terrific teaching tool, particularly with children, and can generate thoughtful discussions. It may not be profound, but it is admirable and meaningful.

I think the best quote from the book is:

"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." This is so true and words that we can live by daily.

My condolences to his family; they lost a great man.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A must read!
Comment: I really enjoyed this book because it talks about what's really important. We often get so caught up in the details of life that we forget why we are here. I also love the emotional aspect of this book. It's a great complement to Pearls of Wellness (Pearls of Wellness 52 Inspirations to Achieve a Peaceful Body, Mind, and Spirit).

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Editorial Reviews:

"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.