# Cecil's House o'Values

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-house-ovalues/188176>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [July 13, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-house-ovalues/188176 "2003-07-13T17:05:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-house-ovalues/188176/1 "2003-07-13T17:05:49Z")

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From the blurb for the book “The Straight Dope” at [Cecil’s House o’Values](https://securesite.chireader.com/cgi-bin/dopestore/buystuff.bat)

> [@](#):
>
> The first and (some say) still the best book-length collection of Ceciliana, hailed by our impartial promotion department as “an indispensable reference tool” and "_the last book you’ll ever need to buy."_

[emphasis mine]

If it’s the last book you’ll ever need to buy, why does Cecil have four other books for sale:[ul][li] Triumph of the Straight Dope[/li][li] The Straight Dope Tells All[/li][li] Return of the Straight Dope[/li][li] More of the Straight Dope[/ul]Just the work of marketing geniuses who never re-read their copy?[/li]  
:dubious:

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-house-ovalues/188176/2 "2003-07-13T19:44:14Z")

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Fixed the title.

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**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-house-ovalues/188176/3 "2003-07-13T21:01:03Z")

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Maybe it should say “the fifth-to-last book you’ll ever need to buy”?

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**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-house-ovalues/188176/4 "2003-07-13T21:35:24Z")

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Might I suggest that you could purchase said books in reverse chronological order from the dates in which they were published. (Technically they could also be saying you should _buy_ his first book then _steal_ the rest, but that wouldn’t be consistent with corporate policy).

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**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\
**Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-house-ovalues/188176/5 "2003-07-14T11:22:38Z")

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Hmm, I better remember to pick up a copy of “Shoplifting For Dummies”, which really is the last book you’ll ever need to buy (unless you skim it in-store).