Books
April, 1977
It takes a hell of a lot of chutzpah to name a novel after the book used in the liturgy of the Church of England. Even more when there doesn't seem to be a good reason for it. That's not the only enigma you'll confront in Joan Didion's long-awaited new novel, A Book of Common Prayer (Simon & Schuster). In her third book of fiction, Didion weaves an account of a contemporary phenomenon--rich daughter turned radical--with the saga of a woman who seems to be going mad. The story takes place in a my...
