Optimism Book of the Month
Each month Dr. Russ will provide his pick for the Optimism Book of the Month, a must read in his opinion to gain even more moments of optimism in your life. Each month a new selection will be made and Dr. Russ will provide a review and reason for endorsement. Before adding any book to this list, Dr. Russ will have read the entire book cover to cover.
THE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2009 PICK
THE LAST LECTURE BY RANDY PAUSCH, HYPERION, 2008
Dr. Russ's Review
The Problem
Randy Pausch, professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University was faced with a problem. He was dying of pancreatic cancer, told he only had months to live, and he needed to find a way to impart twenty years of fatherly wisdom to three young children when he would not be around.
The Solution
He wrote a book. In sixty-one vignettes on living life optimistically, Pausch teaches us how to live in the moment and remain optimistic even when facing a certain death.
TEN REASONS TO PURCHASE AND READ THE LAST LECTURE
- Written in a most readable fashion, each of the 61 vignettes stands alone in presenting a reason or strategy to stay positive in the moment.
- You can take a few hours and read all 61 at once or take one to two months reading and savoring one to two a day – learning from his masterful teaching approach.
- He draws on stories from his childhood, raising his own children, teaching undergraduate and graduate computer science students, and from his marriage and relationships to personalize the optimistic meaning of each vignette.
- He demonstrates over and over and very specifically how to remain optimistic “in-the-moment.”
- Set in the context of a dying man’s last words, the messages are poignant and riveting.
- He had a “never-give-up, do not take no as an answer” attitude, as demonstrated by his successful appeals of initial rejections of admission by Brown and Carnegie Mellon Universities.
- He EPITOMIZED living in the optimistic moment while driving around the city in a red convertible, music blaring loudly seemingly without a care in the world.
- A favorite story: He dumped a entire can of coke on the cloth backseat of his brand new Volkswagen convertible so his young nephews wouldn’t feel bad if they spilled something on the new upholstery.
- Great advice for teaching optimism, raising optimistic children, and leading with optimism.
- Lots of people like the book, and it remains a NATIONAL BESTSELLER.
To purchase The Last Lecture, click here