Tales of Ted

After much hype, The Senator: My Ten Years With Ted Kennedy, the controversial book by former top Kennedy aide Richard E. Burke, is climbing the best-seller list. Burke, who faked attempts on his life, claims Kennedy's behavior in the late '70s included hard drinking, womanizing, and drug use. The senator has denounced the book, calling it ''bizarre and untrue.'' Here's a tally of figures for the book and its author:

*Number of copies of book in circulation: 345,000

*Amount Burke got per copy in advance: 69 cents

*Amount Burke owes his former company since declaring bankruptcy: $875,230

*Number of TV shows that scheduled interviews with Burke: 7

*Number of shows that postponed or canceled Burke after book appeared in stores: 3

*Number of people whose names have been changed: 16

*Number of female composites Burke created: 3

*Number of women Burke says both he and Kennedy slept with: 2

*Number of times Burke says Kennedy snorted cocaine: 8

*Number of times Burke says he joined Kennedy in snorting coke: 1

*Number of times Burke mentions that people thought he and Kennedy were look-alikes: 3

*Number of times Burke says he communicated with Kennedy telepathically: 2

*Number of times Burke shot his car and filed a fake police report about it: 1