Natalia Ilyin is the author of two books, in addition to writing regularly for the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Portland Oregonian, and the Miami Herald.  Ilyin’s Blonde Like Me: The Roots of the Blonde Myth in Our Culture (2000) is a humorous look at America's obsession with blondes.  The Washington Post says of the book: “... Natalia Ilyin reaches for the peroxide bottle to highlight our sometimes dark fascination with the light-haired.”  Ilyin‘s second book Chasing the Perfect: Thoughts on Modernist Design in Our Time (2006) takes a look at the philosophy of modernism and its effect on culture.  According to Ilyin, modern design is based on idealist notions of perfection and, as such, it has played into our economy's need for people to keep on buying things.  Part memoir, part social commentary, the book also talks candidly about the author’s own, not always successful, quest for perfection.  Ilyin is currently at work on her third book, about home and refuge, which is due to be published soon.  For more information go to http://nataliailyin.net/