In high school Frank Portman, author of “King Dork,” was a keen observer of the “socially unsuccessful.” His novel, which is in the process of a movie deal, shares and reflects the same observations of a high school student in a “coming-of-age” environment.

“Coming-of-age stories are so popular because the characters are experiencing many things for the first time,” Portman said. “There is a resonance and heaviness to that idea.”

“King Dork,” published by Random House in 2006, has made quite the literary splash. The novel has been compared to J.D. Salinger’s’ “Catcher in the Rye.” Portman said he thinks in many ways his novel is the answer to Salinger’s classic. Unlike other popular dorks like Napoleon Dynamite, Portman said his main character, Tom Henderson, is much more sophisticated. He said he wanted to present the character of the dork teenager in a different light and enjoyed playing around with the idea of the stereotypical nerd.

Last year “King Dork” won the Northern California Book Award. Portman said the script is already in the works for a movie deal. Only a small percentage of novels actually get auctioned into film and he said he is praying the deal goes through.

“It will be bizarre seeing my work visualized,” he said. “It will be great for my writing career and my general financial health.”

Portman was a history major and graduated from UC Berkeley in 1987. He is the front-man for the San Francisco band “The Mr. T Experience” or “MTX.” The band has been playing together since 1985. Portman said writing music for his band gave him the discipline to write a novel as well as a quirky pop culture point of view.

Portman is currently working on another novel that takes place in the same town as “King Dork.” He said that writing fiction is a very tedious job, but is enjoying being an author.

Portman will be giving a guest lecture and reading at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. this Wednesday at the campus library in room 3032. This event is free and is sponsored by the Sacramento Poetry Center.

Adina Zerwig can be reached at [email protected]