Book excerpt: Adventure on a DARE is the first in a series of true-life accounts describing Fritz T. Sprandel s journey into himself in which he discovers his capricious nature and raises questions about the nature of faith. During the course of his adventure, Fritz visits a variety of natural wonders, small towns, and fascinating people on a budget of ten cents and his own amazing resourcefulness. After overcoming the challenges of the wild, he finds himself in a foreign country, falsely charged with espionage. Then he faces, and incredibly survives relatively unscathed, a revolutionary tribunal trial in Castro s Cuba. The people he meets, the experiences he encounters, and the lessons he learns all become part of him. They form steps in his journey to meaning, although it s a voyage that contains a deeper significance he doesn t fully comprehend while he s traveling. Adventure on a DARE hearkens back to the travels of Mark Twain s Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, and satiates our irresistible urge to fulfill our dreams of adventure. It explores the theme of personal freedom and challenges the promise of the American dream. There s something for everyone in this story: a travelogue with interesting locations, colorful characters who lend drama, adventures in facing nature s wrath alone, and the suspense of a Communist courtroom are all elements of the journey. Above all else, it is fun and engrossing a worthwhile escape from everyday life.