Eu não tenho idéia do que deu errado, mas não consigo obter os pertences_para trabalhar com a opção: class_name. Alguém poderia me esclarecer. Muito obrigado!

Aqui está um trecho do meu código.

class CreateUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
        create_table :users do |t|
            t.text :name
        end
    end

    def self.down
        drop_table :users
    end
end

#####################################################

class CreateBooks < ActiveRecord::Migration
    def self.up
        create_table :books do |t|
            t.text :title
            t.integer :author_id, :null => false
        end
    end

    def self.down
        drop_table :books
    end
end

#####################################################

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
    has_many: books
end

#####################################################

class Book < ActiveRecord::Base
    belongs_to :author, :class_name => 'User', :validate => true
end

#####################################################

class BooksController < ApplicationController
    def create
        user = User.new({:name => 'John Woo'})
        user.save
        @failed_book = Book.new({:title => 'Failed!', :author => @user})
        @failed_book.save # missing author_id
        @success_book = Book.new({:title => 'Nice day', :author_id => @user.id})
        @success_book.save # no error!
    end
end

meio Ambiente:

Ruby 1.9.1-p387 Rails 2.3.5