One of the greatest prose writers of his generation, André Aciman, in the book Homo Irrealis, explores in essay form what time means for artists and writers who cannot grasp life in the present. The concept of "irrealis" is not about the past or future—it is about what could have been, never happened, but hypothetically could still occur. From reflections on metro poetry and temporal resonances of empty Italian streets to descriptions of the lives and works of Sigmund Freud, Constantine Cavafy, Winfried Sebald, John Sloan, Eric Rohmer, Marcel Proust, and Fernando Pessoa, as well as portraits of Alexandria and Saint Petersburg, Homo Irrealis is an analysis of the power of imagination capable of creating a place beyond the firm grip of time.