Synopses & Reviews
This is the true story of Franz Wisner, a man who thought he had it all a high profile career and the fiancée of his dreams when suddenly, his life turned upside down.
Just days before they were to be married, his fiancée called off the wedding. Luckily, his large support network of family and friends wouldn't let him succumb to his misery. They decided Franz should have a wedding and a honeymoon anyway there just wouldn't be a bride at the ceremony, and Franz' travel companion would be his brother, Kurt.
During the "honeymoon," Franz reconnected with his brother and began to look at his life with newfound perspective. The brothers decided to leave their old lives behind them. They quit their jobs, sold all their possessions, and traveled around the world, visiting fifty-three countries for the next two years.
In Honeymoon With My Brother, Franz recounts this remarkable journey, during which he turned his heartbreak into an opportunity to learn about himself, the world, and the brother he hardly knew.
Review
"Wisner's accounts of a Balinese cockfight or Trinidad's Carnival do what good travel writing should: make you want to be right then and there. And while his obligatory life-lesson passages are undeniably cheesy, they are never less than sincere." Entertainment Weekly
Review
"Sandwiched between the chuckles are letters to their grandmother and short, pointed chapters on best trip advice....Humorous and heartening." Booklist
Synopsis
This is the true story of Franz Wisner, a man who thought he had it all- a high profile career and the fiancée of his dreams- when suddenly, his life turned upside down. Just days before they were to be married, his fiancée called off the wedding. Luckily, his large support network of family and friends wouldn't let him succumb to his misery. They decided Franz should have a wedding and a honeymoon anyway- there just wouldn't be a bride at the ceremony, and Franz' travel companion would be his brother, Kurt.
During the "honeymoon," Franz reconnected with his brother and began to look at his life with newfound perspective. The brothers decided to leave their old lives behind them. They quit their jobs, sold all their possessions, and traveled around the world, visiting fifty-three countries for the next two years. In Honeymoon With My Brother, Franz recounts this remarkable journey, during which he turned his heartbreak into an opportunity to learn about himself, the world, and the brother he hardly knew.
About the Author
Franz Wisner is a writer/vagabond who, in a previous reincarnation, used to work as a lobbyist, a public relations executive, and a government press secretary. During his world journeys, he published numerous travel articles and opinion pieces, which appeared in the
San Francisco Chronicle,
Los Angeles Times, ABC News on-line, and
Coast Magazine, among others. Franz and his brother, Kurt, are currently traveling the globe for their next book, also with St. Martin's Press.
Reading Group Guide
1. Why did Annie, the love of Franzs life, wait until a week before their scheduled wedding to end their relationship? Was her decision a kind act or a malicious one?
2. Franzs 98-year-old grandmother, LaRue, and her friends at the Eskaton retirement home embraced the idea of a worldwide trip immediately. How do different generations view extended travel differently, and why do you think this is?
3. What was Franzs state of mind at the beginning of the trip, in the middle, and at the end? Which questions about life did the two-year honeymoon help answer, and how?
4. What did Franz learn from Kurt during the honeymoon? And what did Kurt learn from Franz?
5. Did the book inspire you to visit a foreign country? If so, which one(s) and why? Which foreign cultures do you most admire?
6. Honeymoon with My Brother has been purchased by Sony Pictures to be turned into a movie. What kind of a movie should it be?
7. Why does travel help people who have suffered setbacks?
8. And finally: If you were going to travel with a relative for two years, who would it be? Why?