The Last Lecture

In September 2007, Carnegie Mellon computer science professor Randy Pausch stood before an auditorium and gave a final lecture, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams". He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had months to live. The talk spread widely online, and he turned it into this book with Wall Street Journal reporter Jeffrey Zaslow, published by Hyperion in April 2008.

The book is a memoir built from short chapters, each pairing an event from Pausch's life with the lesson he drew from it: chasing childhood dreams, working with others, the brick walls that show how much we want something, and making the most of the time we have. He wrote it as a record of his thinking for his three young children, who would grow up without him.

It became a New York Times bestseller and was translated into many languages. Readers who like reflective memoirs about mortality and purpose, such as Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie, will find a familiar kind of book here.