A quixotic quest for the perfect piece of oak from which to carve an authentic 19th-century—style table and chairs consumed author/woodworker T.M. Hawley for months, and led him to think a lot about the role that sturdy wood has played in human history. The result is Men of Oak, about his own search and also about man's relationship to wood. The book went to auction, which agent Russell Galen conducted by cell phone while hiking in Grand Teton National Park recently, and the winner for world rights was John Glusman of Farrar, Straus & Giroux.