Selling Stories, Behind the Counter: Daedalus Books Warehouse Outlet

Name: Denise Hagvall

Title: Bookstore Manager, Daedalus Books

On getting into the bookstore business: I have a degree in English literature—there is not much you can do with it besides working with books (laughs).

On how the store works: We deal with publishers’ overstock. That’s why our prices are so ridiculously cheap. We buy what is returned to publishers...We do supplement our store with new titles…Some people think we do used books here. We don’t buy used books, and we don’t sell used books.

What’s behind the store’s name?: There are two things. [In Greek mythology] Daedalus is the father of Icarus…It’s also named for the character Stephen Dedalus in the James Joyce novel “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.”

Do you think most people catch the reference?: No. (laughs) We actually sell t-shirts that have the phonetic spelling of our store name printed on them.

Who is your favorite author?: Oh god. That is so hard. I used to love Charles Dickens when I was younger…I went through a Jane Austin phase. At the moment I’m reading a lot of non-fiction. I just find I get more pleasure from it. I’m into Jon Krakauer right now. 

You would think working at a book store is calming. Is that true?: Sometimes when you’re doing something meditative like doing shelving. But there is a lot to deal with. There are a lot of balls in the air so I wouldn’t say it’s calming.

What’s your favorite part of the job?: I really do like just being at the register and selling books. We are a destination store. We’re really tucked away so you have to know what we do here to come. We get a lot of regular customers…I’m curious to stand at the register and see what people buy. I get a lot of good recommendations. There are some really intelligent people who come through here. You learn a lot.

Do you worry about the future of bookstores in the age of e-reading? I think everybody has to be a bit worried in this business with e-publications and all. But we’re so diversified here maybe it makes us a little healthier than the others.

What’s the most interesting book section in this store?: I’m always amazed at some of the history books we get in. We had one on Jewish pirates. That was really popular.

How many books do you read a year?: Not enough. Probably between 10-12

What’s the last book you read?: A biography of Edgar Allan Poe. It was really interesting.

On the importance of reading: I think reading does a lot of things. For one it slows you down…It really lets you reset your brain…It’s also very introspective. It makes you question things, and it makes you think about things in your daily life that unless you meditate you wouldn’t give a second thought to.