The Last Lecture is a 2008 New York Times best-selling book co-authored by Randy Pausch —a professor of computer science, human-computer interaction, and design at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—and Jeffrey Zaslow of the Wall Street Journal.

[4] After publishing the book and recording his lecture, Pausch dedicated the rest of his time to enjoying his family and advocating for pancreatic cancer patients.

His desire to leave a tangible memory of himself for his three young children leads him to the decision to deliver his lecture despite having months left to live.

Chapter 3 “The Elephant in the Room”: Pausch describes the beginning of his lecture, dressed in his Disney Imagineer uniform to represent achieving one's childhood dreams.

He recounts how his mother valued compassion for others compared to mundane accomplishments for himself, while his father, a storyteller with a desire to make a moral point.

Chapter 5 “The Elevator in the Ranch House”: Pausch, his siblings, and his friends win over their parents and are allowed to craft their own mural on his bedroom walls.

Chapter 9 “A Skill Set Called Leadership”: Growing up Pausch dreamed to be Captain James T. Kirk from the 1960s TV series Star Trek.

Pausch details how William Shatner, the actor who played Captain Kirk, came to his virtual reality lab at Carnegie Mellon.

Pausch recites a line from the Star Trek movie, in which Kirk reprograms a simulation that kills the whole crew because "he didn't believe in the no-win scenario."

[6] Many critics note Pausch’s ability to represent his endearing and witty personality throughout the story despite writing it knowing his cancer diagnosis.

[11] Mike Gruss, a columnist from the Virginian Pilot, notes the story's uniqueness: "...Unlike others in the genre, The Last Lecture includes specific advice.

Comparing it to the lecture given, Karen R. Long, from the Houston Chronicle, recounts: "The text focuses more cleanly on the nitty-gritty of making a good life".

[3] As well, Sonja Barisic, from the Record, expresses: "The book goes beyond the lecture, giving Pausch more room to tell his kids what he would have tried to teach them over the next twenty years.