The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (Non-Fiction)

Composed by Randy Pausch a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, this anecdotal autobiography reveals his preparation for a presentation at a Last Lecture Series sponsored by the university. The last Lecture series requires some personal meditation on what individuals have learned and what is most important to them as a result of their life-long experiences. This invitation to Randy is particularly valuable as he is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

I found the first section of the book both interesting and enjoyable as it traces his thought process and intellectual struggles in determining what to present in his final, one-hour lecture.

The second section of the book “Enabling the Dreams of Others” had less appeal for me as it focused on Dr. Pausch giving advice to the readers as a result of his experience. The weakness of this approach is that his advice is, in general, so circumstantial. It worked for him, with his character, personality, intellectual abilities, skills, attributes and life conditions. Advice of this nature is not necessarily transferable to others whose lives take place in a totally different context.