It seems a bit crass to review a person's dying words - his childhood dreams, his life experiences, the philosophies he learned from his mentors and his father. As an endeavor, it's something many of us might also find ourselves doing - even if not invited to speak in front of a packed audience - if we were faced with a terminal illness and had children so young that they would likely only know us by what others tell them and what we leave behind for them. Randy Pausch's actual last lecture is available on YouTube in its entirety (just search for "Randy Pausch Last Lecture"), and the book picks up where the lecture leaves off. Almost every point made in the lecture is described in greater detail and with additional context and commentary in the book. Being a computer science professor and giving his lecture at Carnegie Mellon, Pausch mostly told stories that centered around his career; he made a point not to discuss his cancer, his wife, or his kids. In the book, however, he opens up and talks candidly and with emotion about his personal life.
As a book of "lessons learned" from his life, it is clear that his writings are meant to be read by his children, as a way for them to know their father and benefit from what he had to offer, even if he couldn't be there to raise them. Indeed, it's a book *I* want my children to read when they are older, as it does offer valuable advice.
Pausch writes like he talks, so the book reads easily. In its use of matter-of-fact anecdotal storytelling, the book actually reminded me quite a bit of Richard Feynman's "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" and "What Do YOU Care What Other People Think?" - though, as one would imagine, more poignant and less witty/humorous. (Perhaps it's the way both authors were brilliant and quirky academics.) And yes, I did cry.
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