Whether truth is stranger than fiction in the life of James Frey is hard to say, given how very tricky it is to sort out which is which. But they're both pretty damn strange.

Frey is, of course, the most famously discredited author in recent memory, the man who was hauled across Oprah's sofa to explain why his searing true-life memoir of addiction contained so many fabrications. (In the process, incidentally, inventing what has become a whole new genre - the harrowing true story that isn't.)

The author recently made his debut in self-declared fiction, with Bright Shiny Morning. But the untrue-true-life story found its way into that, with a teasing story – included only in the paperback edition – about a writer being rung up by the TV host who has publicly humiliated him. Asked about whether this was material drawn from life, Frey got an obvious kick from from telling journalists: "It's fiction."

Now comes news that Oprah was meditating one morning last autumn and decided she must contact Frey to apologise for pillorying him. "It was a nice surprise to hear from her," Frey told Vanity Fair. For anyone who wonders whether Frey has been letting his fancy stray again, Oprah's people have confirmed that this at least is true. Which does seem both very strange, and oddly normal for an event in the life of James Frey.