a "Butcher" in pursuit of "fresh meat." Kaufman falls asleep on a late-night subway train to Brooklyn and awakens to discover Mahogany has killed people in the neighboring car and the train conductor is cooperating with him. After Kaufman kills Mahogany in self-defense, the train arrives at a secret station where ancient, withered humans board and consume the bodies. The creatures, the "City Fathers", are the secret rulers of New York for centuries, the people who founded and initially built the city. They eventually present Kaufman to the incomprehensible "Father of Fathers", who has lived here since before the first humans of America. One of them pulls out Kaufman's tongue, stating that he will "serve in silence", and recruits him as their new Butcher tasked with bringing them fresh meat. Kaufman passes out as the conductor announces the next destination as "home". Kaufman is later awakened by the conductor in a secret, pristine subway station and helped off of the train as cleaning crews come on to cover up the events of the previous night. The conductor states that he has a lot to learn before he begins his job that evening, and presents him to the cleaners who look on him with a sense of reverence. He exits the station onto the streets in the early morning as the city is waking up and coming alive, falls down to his knees, kisses the ground, and swears his loyalty to the city. A film of the same name was released on 1 August 2008. The film greatly expands the book in a number of ways, most notably with the introduction of additional characters such as Maya, Leon's girlfriend, and additional events outside the main plot. Bradley Cooper and Vinnie Jones star in the film. "The Yattering and Jack" Jack Polo is a gherkin importer who is haunted by a minor demon called the Yattering. The demon is commanded to haunt Jack by Beelzebub, because one of Jack's ancestors reneged on a pact made with the demon lord. The Yattering is frustrated when its determined efforts to drive Jack insane are answered with good cheer and apparent obliviousness. Unknown to the Yattering, Jack is purposely ignoring the demon in order to simultaneously frustrate it and maintain his own sanity. The Yattering subjects him to increasingly severe torments, including killing his cats and terrorizing his family, but these efforts all fail. Eventually