For one thing, the price goes up – so to speak – when something becomes newsworthy. That item becomes a collector’s item. For another thing, whether it’s fact or fiction, it’s still scintillating, isn’t it?

If you haven’t followed the story in the past couple years, Frey wrote what he called a memoir about his struggles with addiction, filling it with all kinds of gritty details. He went on Oprah, he got huge, the book sold like crazy. Then the news broke that some of the details in the book were less than truthful. Downright made-up, the author admitted.

And the book sold more copies. A lot more. Surprised? Not so much. I guess you can chalk it up to that old cliché: Just make sure you spell the name right.

But to further the story, a lawsuit ensued (by people who’d purchased the book, incidentally – though it must have been a small and fierce group). Refunds of the book’s purchase price were authorized for those who bought it before the truth came out, but less than a fraction of 1 percent of the purchasers have come forward for the refund.

Frey has received $4.4 million in royalties from the book, the Associated Press reports. And he’s working on a new novel, "Bright Shiny Morning," slated for release in summer 2008.

Like I said ... That’s “Frey” with an “e.”