Q 6

PLAYBOY: But isn't power in a woman sexy?

Truman Capote: I think power in a man is sexy, but I don't think power in a woman is sexy. I think power in a woman turns men off. It's too intimidating.

Q 7

PLAYBOY: Then you wouldn't find, say, Barbara Walters sexy?

Truman Capote: I don't consider Barbara Walters powerful in that sense. She's a television personality. Her power can go like that [snaps his fingers]. It's hanging on a very thin string. By tomorrow, ABC could fire her and she'd be selling lingerie at Bloomingdale's.

Q 8

PLAYBOY: Who are the sexiest women you know?

Truman Capote: I think Kay Graham is extremely sexy. Her figure and make-up are great; she has extraordinary eyes and one of the most seductive voices you ever heard--when, that is, she's being seductive. She makes any man she's with totally forget all about Kay Graham, Tycoon. I don't think she's always had this quality; she didn't when I first knew her.

Very few men are attracted to women because of their minds, although for my next candidate that might seem to be the only reason: Lillian Hellman. Lillian is not at all what we would normally call a particularly attractive woman. However, she has this amazing thing--if women have it, they can put themselves over, no matter what they look like. Lillian Hellman simply believes she is the sexiest, most alluring woman in any room. She moves that way; she acts that way; she looks at men that way. The last thing on Hellman's mind is literature or art. Her whole manner is strictly below the belt--the way she moves her hips, her arms, her hands, the whole thing. The funny thing about it is it works; I know innumerable men who have been in love with her.

The next woman is Maria Theresa Caen, the wife of columnist Herb Caen. She is from Louisiana, is small and Spanish. She's not exactly beautiful at all--she's always well groomed--but you always notice that men gravitate toward her. There's something in her voice, her laugh. She's got this real merriment about her. She's also extremely intelligent.

Also, Gloria Guinness is an extraordinarily sexy woman. She has great allure and mystery. She's a self-creation--that's why I like her. All the women I really like are self-creations.

Q 9

PLAYBOY: What makes rich women more interesting than poor ones? Or are they?

Truman Capote: I don't think rich women are interesting at all. My idea of joy is not to sit next to Blanchette Rockefeller at dinner, you know.

The only rich women who ever interested me, the only ones who were ever my friends, were adventuresses--people who were total self-creations. Gloria Guinness is a prime example. And Jackie Onassis and Lee Radziwill are not far off the mark. They started out with money, so they weren't entirely self-made. And, of course, there was Babe Paley. She came from a very distinguished background, but, indeed, she was a total self-creation. She made herself look that way; it was her taste, her style, her total invention.

Q 10

PLAYBOY: Is the age of the adventuress over?

Truman Capote: A top-class adventuress is in a category all by herself. But she's a rare creature, so when one comes along, there's always a big market for her.

I would advise a lot of women who have brains, good looks, style, and so forth, and set out to make a career as an actress or a model, to forget it. Pretend you never heard of the theater or the movies. Say all that interests you is leading a very subdued, settled, high-society life and you'll make it. I don't know if you'll get what you want, but you'll get more than you would the other way. Unless she's got fantastic drive, a woman shouldn't be too career-oriented. It's OK up to a point, but you have to have inhuman drive.

Q 11

PLAYBOY: In Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly Golightly says she has taught herself to like older men because she thinks it's good for her. Is this still good advice for a woman?

Truman Capote: Indeed it is. Older men are a passport that'll carry you across all frontiers.

Q 12

PLAYBOY: Why are older men better?

Truman Capote: Well, first of all, there's so much more security attached to an older man. And with an older man, a woman is just as--probably more--agreeably active sexually. You're not going to get your brains pounded out morning and afternoon, as--I read in Ann Landers--many women are. In fact, to hear Dear Abby tell it, the women in this country are in hysterics over getting fucked to death.