Judge Richard Holwell said the settlement was "most fair, adequate and reasonable". It offered a refund to anyone who bought the book before Frey's lies were acknowledged.

Although the book was a best-seller that exploded in sales after Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club, only 1,729 readers came forward to benefit from the settlement, said Larry Drury, lawyer for the plaintiffs.

In January 2006, the website The Smoking Gun revealed that Frey's memoir of addiction and recovery contained numerous fabrications. Frey and his publisher then admitted he had made up parts of it.

Although Random House set aside $2.35m in a fund to cover costs related to the lawsuits, advertisements drew only 1,729 claims for reimbursement, costing just $27,348. Another $800,000 will be paid out in legal fees along with $450,000 in costs associated with publicising and carrying out the settlement. The settlement also calls for about $200,000 to be divided among three charities.

As part of the deal, Random House agreed to include a warning in the book that not all portions may be accurate, and an author's note on the subject was to be included in copies of the book until this December.

Drury said 93,738 copies of the book were sold in the seven months after the controversy. Frey received over $4.5m in royalties. Meanwhile, Frey is working on a new book, Bright Shiny Morning, due for release next summer.