The Last Lecture
After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, a professor shares the lessons he's learned-about living in the present, building a legacy, and taking full advantage of the time you have-in this life-changing classic.

"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 over 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.

1100317728
The Last Lecture
After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, a professor shares the lessons he's learned-about living in the present, building a legacy, and taking full advantage of the time you have-in this life-changing classic.

"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 over 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.

18.99 In Stock
The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture

by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow

Narrated by Erik Singer

Unabridged — 4 hours, 13 minutes

The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture

by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow

Narrated by Erik Singer

Unabridged — 4 hours, 13 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

$18.99
FREE With a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime
$0.00

Free with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription | Cancel Anytime

START FREE TRIAL

Already Subscribed? 

Sign in to Your BN.com Account


Listen on the free Barnes & Noble NOOK app


Related collections and offers

FREE

with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription

Or Pay $18.99

Overview

After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, a professor shares the lessons he's learned-about living in the present, building a legacy, and taking full advantage of the time you have-in this life-changing classic.

"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 over 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.


Editorial Reviews

Over the years, numerous professors have given talks entitled "The Last Lecture." For Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch, however, the topic was no mere formality. When he presented his "last lecture" to hundreds of faculty and students last September, he already knew that he had metastatic pancreatic cancer. Despite a grim prognosis, Dr. Pausch delivered an upbeat, urgent call for his listeners to achieve their childhood dreams. Since then, this good-natured computer science specialist has become a worldwide celebrity; named "Person of the Week" by ABC News and invited to be a guest on Oprah. This memoir recounts the story of a brave man's encounter with a sense of his own mortality. An inspiring message for anyone who ages.

SEPTEMBER 2008 - AudioFile

A sort of reverse engineering created this recording of Pausch's book of life lessons, based on his lecture "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—first a sensation as a viral video on YouTube. The video, the book, and the audiobook are now part of the legacy Pausch left after his death from pancreatic cancer in July 2008. Narrator Erik Singer skillfully becomes Pausch for listeners. He adopts the Carnegie Mellon computer science professor's direct, exuberant manner but tempers it with the serious and wistful reflection that the work embodies. Singer gets across the "live in the moment" philosophy that Pausch embraced and creates an audio experience that honors him. Worth multiple re-listenings and sharings. R.F.W. 2009 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID: 2940173663894
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Publication date: 04/08/2008
Edition description: Unabridged
From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews