cover image Bardot, Deneuve, Fonda

Bardot, Deneuve, Fonda

Roger Vadim. Simon & Schuster, $17.45 (328pp) ISBN 978-0-671-53007-5

The famous French film scripter and director states that the purpose of his multi-biography is to correct erroneous reports about his amorous life during the past 30 years. The disclosures are dedicated to Vadim's future grandchildren: ""I shudder at the image they would piece together'' from distortions printed around the world. Readers will wonder how the hypothetical descendants will react to these stories about Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Jane Fonda and other women. Vadim was a promising newcomer to films when he met Bardot, 15, and persuaded her parents to let her appear in his movie. She needed no urging to allow him to introduce her to sex, he writes. Anecdotes about their reckless lovemaking abound, leading up to her 18th birthday, when Bardot's father consented to their wedding. When BB fell in love with actor John-Louis Trintignant, she divorced Vadim. He then found other loversDeneuve, Fonda and lesser known womenwhom he tattles on in explicit detail in this self-serving ``confession.'' Photos not seen by PW. (April)