"The poems in This Ecstasy They Call Damnation walk a razor's edge, bristling with intensity as they tackle the hard work of survival, both physical and spiritual. In this wide-ranging collection, Israel Wasserstein tells and re-tells myths, legends, Bible stories, and his own brilliant poems of Highway 54. The speedometer's always broken in this life, Wasserstein reminds us, and how we cope with this knowledge, and this lack of knowledge, seems to be at the heart of this rich, sure-handed debut." -Jim Daniels, author of Having a Little Talk with Capital P Poetry and other books "An evocative and lyrical storyteller, Israel Wasserstein takes on Bible stories and zombies, politics and myth. Like the angels that "we might entertain...unaware" these poems bless us with startling beauty and intelligence as they plumb the depths of the human condition. A deft and stunning debut that lingers long after the last page has been turned." -Lisa D. Ch vez, Professor of Creative Writing at the University of New Mexico, author of Destruction Bay and In an Angry Season