The first notorious LBB incident in recent memory was the 1995 case of Hollywood madam extraordinaire, Heidi Fleiss. She went to prison rather than give up her book or any information on her clients. However, she didn’t lose out completely – her 2003 book Pandering gave her a chance to tell her side of the story and make a few bucks in the bargain.  But even in Pandering, there’s not a whisper of the contents of her little black book.

Not so with more recent super-madams, Hollywood’s Jody “Babydol” Gibson and Manhattan Madame Kristin Davis – both women turned their convictions into book deals by writing tell-alls that divulged their little black book’s deepest secrets. While Babydol’s confessions no doubt made some Hollywood stars uncomfortable, it’s not as if that’s a town that’s unused to the combustable pairing of sex and controversy.  But when the Manhattan Madam opened up her little black book last year, it was another story.

Let’s just start with the fact that Kristin Davis was rumored to have the biggest black book in America, chock-full of names of men who were willing to pay $1,000 an hour for the services of Davis and her call girls. Top that with her tie-in to the Elliot Spitzer scandal (Davis was the former Madame of the Emporer’s Club) and a long term with relationship with A-Rod… that’s a lot of powerful people in a lot of hot water just because of one little book.

But even the Manhattan Madam might be considered small fish compared to “Miz Julia,” also known as Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the head of the DC-based escort firm Pamela Martin & Associates.  Her takedown by the authorities in 2007 brought a deputy secretary of state with her. After her assets were frozen by the federal government, she too opened her little black book, though this time for free. What was amazing was the sheer volume – when she handed over a sampling of her client records to ABC news, the documents weighed in at 46 pounds. Her story is also unique in its utterly tragic ending – not long after being convicted of racketeering, using the mail for illegal purposes, and money laundering in the spring of 2008, she committed suicide.

The moral of the story? Well, if there is one, it’s that you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble if you keep your little black book to yourself. But if you used to cater to the rich and famous and you find yourself facing jail time… it might just be worth the hassle.