Instant Ancestors

As fortune would have it, you have just stumbled across an off-the-leash, unbridled small compendium of outrageous stories called “Instant Ancestors.” Thanks to the lop-sided imagination of author Russell Shuler, you’ll meet a cast of characters, complete with a fabulous portrait (and subtle story clues contained therein), caught in every conceivable slant of shenanigan and predicament.Stick your toe in, and you’ll experience “the long hard stare” of Cletus McHaggis as he faces off with the “devastating beauty” of twins Ismerelda and Desdomena, circling one another in an ancient game of “dupe and roll.” You’ll follow the conjurings of Gloriah Jellylooloo, the “Memory Catalyst,” who brings cinema to events thought to be long buried and those yet to occur. Observe Smabdolem Ik as he encounters a troop of dwarf strippers with a dark side. And try to stay abreast with the show-stopping ideas of exotic fan dancer Izzy Ibrahim and her creative partner (and son) Shelley. All this flabbergastery, and more, is now available between the covers of “Instant Ancestors.”The Genesis of Instant AncestorsIt’s been said many times that you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your relatives. I believed that to be true until, not long ago, I came across a shoe box crammed with family portraits taken roughly a hundred years ago in a favorite antique store. The stall proprietor included an index card with the scribbled broadside: “Instant Ancestors!” It went on to say that with these pictures, you could conjure up a long-lost relative from God knows where famous for such and such, and no one would be wiser. To be truthful, the idea appealed to my lop-sided, passionate sense of humor, so I bought the box of photographs and began imagining the personal chronicles of these precious folks who had been relegated to the dustbin of history.