New fiction by James Frey praised and slammed

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Writer James Frey's first book since a 2005 scandal is receiving mixed reviews. But at least this time everyone agrees the book is fiction.

Frey sparked a major literary scandal when it was discovered that his memoir "A Million Little Pieces" contained key chunks of fiction.

This time there is no argument over "Bright Shiny Morning". It is an admitted work of fiction that the New York Times says restores his reputation as a writer.

But the reviewer for the Los Angeles Times says "Bright Shiny Morning" is "a terrible book, one of the worst I've ever read."

In "A Million Little Pieces," (2003) which Frey presented as a factual memoir but which was later exposed as embellished with copious passages of fiction, including fictional characters and a long stay in jail that didn't happen.

His punishment was to be savaged on U.S. television by a livid Oprah Winfrey, who had turned the book into a best seller by choosing it for her book club.

Frey admitted the exaggerations in "Little Pieces" and another of his books and published "Bright Shiny Morning" on Monday as an admitted work of fiction for which he was paid a reported $1.5 million (770, 000 pounds).

New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin, whose review of "The Da Vinci Code" in 2003 helped make it into a international bestseller, mocked of Frey's writing style but called the work "a captivating urban kaleidoscope."

She added: "He got another chance. Look what he did with it. He stepped up to the plate and hit one out of the park. No more lying, no more melodrama, still run-on sentences, still funny punctuation but so what. He became a furiously good storyteller this time."