The most recent literary event in Waltham began with a barbeque. At a casual backyard gathering last September, Alex Green '04 proposed opening a bookstore in Waltham to his friend Ezra Sternstein '04.

Both said they were unhappily employed at the time; Green was doing contract work for an archaeology firm, while Sternstein was keeping himself busy doing basic data entry. The two were frustrated, and, like many new grads, they were trying to find their calling.

Green, 22, graduated from Brandeis with a degree in anthropology and was specifically interested in archeology. Sternstein, also 22, studied English and American literature. Opening a bookstore seemed like the perfect opportunity for the two new entrepreneurs.

"Lots of people at Brandeis realized that Waltham needed a bookstore," Green said, unashamedly noting that it wasn't a unique thought to open such a store. In fact, Waltham already has a few bookstores, including one specializing in Japanese books, but none of them are what he calls a "general bookstore."

For a city of about 59,000, Waltham has a surprisingly active literary scene. In the past two years alone there have been two Pulitzer Prize winners who call Waltham home, and the academic communities of Brandeis and Bentley College which both reside within the city's borders. Green and Sternstein were confident that a general bookstore would succeed in Waltham.

"There is an academic, scholarly and literary community here that people are just waiting to tap in to," Green said.

The two began basic planning for the store and looked to friends and family for help and support. "No bank will give loans to two recent college grads," Green said.

According to an article in The Boston Globe, Green and Sternstein raised nearly $90,000 from their supporters to start the store.

"The only people you are going to find who will invest are the four F's-friends, family, fools and fanatics," Green said.

Green said the pair knew that Moody Street was the only logical place for their store if they wanted it to succeed. "Moody Street is a nightlife destination...It's a place people want to go," Green said. "But there is also a surprising amount of daytime traffic."

The two walked up and down Moody Street looking for a vacant storefront. Initially they planned to open the store at the end of Moody opposite the commuter rail tracks.

Green now thinks that this space probably would have failed and said they were lucky to eventually find an empty 1,000-square-foot space located at 368 Moody Street, directly across the street from Lizzie's Ice Cream.

Green and Sternstein want to model the store after City Lights, the influential independent bookstore in San Francisco. Their ambitious plans for the store include a textbook buy-back service, dorm delivery and, eventually, opening a publishing house just like City Lights did. But for now, merely getting their store up and running is their sole focus.

"It takes someone who's really willing to put a lot on the line to open an independent bookstore anywhere," Green said. "It's such a tremendous amount of work that it is left either to people who are young and have the energy or to people who have been in the book business for a long time. It's a hard business."

Although they had a concept for the store, it took Green and Sternstein a long time to find a name for their new bookstore. According to Green, every name they dreamed up was too obscure of a literary reference.

They eventually choose the name Back Pages Books, which they derived from a Bob Dylan song. Sternstein, a huge Dylan fan, took the name for the store from my "My Back Pages," off Another Side of Bob Dylan.

On April 18, Back Pages Books opened its doors for the first time only eight months after the duo dreamed up the store.

The grand-opening drew a crowd of over 60 people including Waltham resident and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Franz Wright and Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy. According to Green, there were so many people in attendance that some of them had to stand in the street.

Since its opening, sales and community response to the store have both been strong, according to Green, although the store has yet to become profitable.

"We haven't seen a quick return. This isn't a real money making venture," he said.

The prices at the store are a bit higher than than at larger, chain bookstores, because Green said they are not yet able to discount prices.

"We don't have the space to be Barnes and Noble." Green said. "You can't compete monetarily with a company that's buying a million copies of a book when you're buying four."

Currently, Back Pages Books is largely empty. When you first walk in there is a large open section with a few tables standing to the left. Green and Sternstein eventually hope this will become a community space where people can come and relax, hang out and meet with others.

Further back, the store has a few rows of bookshelves-less than would be expected for a bookstore. The few shelves in place are sparingly filled with books mostly handpicked by the young owners.

In the very back of the store there is a small children's section with low bookshelves and toys strewn about the floor. The walls of the store are light green and decorated with posters of movies adapted from books.

While the store is mostly empty now, it is clear that Green and Sternstein have big plans for the space.

"I would love to go back to school, but I'm willing to put that off for 10 years if it means building this store up to an institution. You can't make a short-term commitment to something like this." Green said.