Matthew J. Prigge Signs Dog's Day at Book Soup

Most people know the 1972 Brooklyn bank robbery through Al Pacino's performance in Dog Day Afternoon. Matthew J. Prigge's new book goes after the parts the 1975 film left out, and he's at Book Soup on the Sunset Strip on Monday, October 5 at 7 PM to talk about it and sign copies. If your list of things to do in Los Angeles runs thin on weeknights, this one belongs on it.

The story behind the movie

On the hottest day of 1972, John Wojtowicz and a teenage accomplice walked into a Brooklyn bank with guns drawn and asked for what was in the vault. The police showed up before they could get out. What followed was a 14-hour standoff that played out in real time, with Wojtowicz doing the talking. He made demands of the cops and told them, without any apparent embarrassment, that he was gay and wanted to see his trans lover. He also hinted that part of the reason for the robbery was to pay for her gender-affirming surgery.

The city couldn't look away, and neither could the rest of the country. It ended with Wojtowicz under arrest and his accomplice shot dead by the FBI.

Pacino played a fictionalized version of Wojtowicz, and the movie kept the outline. Prigge's book, Dog's Day, is the fuller account of the robbery and the tangled lives around it. It goes back to the rough early years of the gay liberation movement. It gets into the Mafia figures who controlled many of New York City's queer gathering spaces and profited from them. And it follows Wojtowicz after prison, into an odd kind of celebrity, still unable to admit he'd done anything wrong. The book's own description calls it a messy love story from a politically tense era, when simply being yourself could count as rebellion.

About the author

Prigge is a librarian as much as a writer. He works as a faculty librarian at Marquette University in Milwaukee, and Dog's Day is one of six books he's published. An earlier one, about film censorship, became the feature-length documentary Outlaws, Rebels, & Vixens, so he has spent real time on the gap between what happened and what ended up on screen. Back home he lives with his wife, two pet rats and a rescued cat.

What to expect

The listing bills this as a discussion and signing, so plan on hearing Prigge talk about the book before the signing line forms. The evening is scheduled from 7 to 9 PM. Book Soup is an independent bookstore, and it's worth showing up a few minutes early to browse before things start.

If you haven't seen Dog Day Afternoon in a while, rewatching it over the weekend will give you plenty to ask about. The distance between the film and the real case is the whole point of the book, and Prigge will be the person in the room who knows the real case best.

Practical info

When: Monday, October 5, 2026, 7 to 9 PM Where: Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood Cost: Not posted on the listing

Event details are on the Discover Los Angeles listing. It doesn't show a price or say whether you need to buy the book to join the signing line, so check with Book Soup before you head over.

Parking on the Strip takes some patience. There are meters on Sunset and on the side streets, but read the permit signs twice before you walk away from the car. Metro's Line 2 bus runs along Sunset Boulevard if you'd rather skip the search.

For more author talks and readings, browse the arts and culture calendar. Other picks from around the city are on Things Happening In Los Angeles.