Matthew J. Prigge discusses & signs Dog’s Day: The True Story of a Bank Robbery, Gay Liberation, and Toxic Love That Inspired a Hollywood Classic

The wilder-than-fiction true story behind the sensational bank heist immortalized in the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon On the hottest day of 1972, John Wojtowicz and a teenage accomplice strode into a Brooklyn bank, guns drawn, and demanded the contents of the vault. The cops showed up before the two could escape. Over the next 14-hours, an unexpected drama played out in real time. Wojtowicz took the lead, making demands of the cops and unashamedly declaring that he was a gay man and wished to see his trans lover. Part of the reason for the heist, he hinted, was to get the cash to pay for her g…