Each of Truman Capote's books has generated strong opinion--most (but not all) of it enthusiastic. Music for Chameleons, his latest, is no exception, so we hatched syndicated television reporter Nancy Collins to discuss that and other subjects with him at his New York apartment. "He had a terrible cold," she told us, "but that didn't muffle any of his opinions."

Q 1

PLAYBOY: Americans seem obsessed with other people's opinions--especially yours. Why?

Truman Capote: My own opinion is that people don't have good opinions. Everybody borrows his opinions from other people, who have already borrowed theirs from somebody else. That's why conversation is so difficult.

Q 2

PLAYBOY: Do you think your opinions are the basis of your appeal?

Truman Capote: I don't have any appeal. I just arouse curiosity. Actually, that's about 70 percent true. I do think I have a largish following of people who really just like my writing.

Q 3

PLAYBOY: What is the state of man / woman relationships today?

Truman Capote: The same as it has been and always will be; I don't think anything is ever going to change between men and women. The real difference between men and women is nature. There's something in the nature of a woman that makes her want to be dominated by a man, at least in some sexual sense. And that's something that can't be eradicated.

Q 4

PLAYBOY: Hasn't the women's movement changed that?

Truman Capote: Women's liberation has gone a long way and it's done a terrific lot, economically speaking. Actually, inflation has more to do with women's liberation than anything else--you know, need for a second income. The old husband is glad to push the old wife out to work nowadays. Before, he would have said, "Oh, honey, I wouldn't have you soiling your hands down at the garage." Now he has her pushing an 18-ton truck.

Q 5

PLAYBOY: What have women lost because of the women's movement?

Truman Capote: I don't think they've lost a thing, at least they've gained a lot more than they've lost. They gained economic independence. What they lost--if they lost it--is what their actual role is in relation to a man. That particular see-saw, balancing a successful career and a successful marriage--well, I've never seen it work. I've never known a career woman who didn't essentially dominate her husband.