Born in Naples in 1958, he debuted as a writer in 1991 with Camerati: quattro novelle sul diventare grandi (Bagutta award for First Work). 1996 was the year of Quando scriviamo da giovani and of the essay Quando vi ucciderete, maestro? which compares martial arts’ styles with narrative techniques, a theme reflected on in depth in Acqua, sudore, ghiaccio (1998). In the twenty-first century, he has tackled subjects with a sharp social impact in L’abusivo (2001), the story of Giancarlo Siani’s murder, and in Cronaca della fine (2003). In Gladiatori (2005) Franchini explores suburban gyms interviewing young and old boxers on the significance of the fight. After a children’s book, La principessa, la scimmia e l’elefante (2009), he published Signore delle lacrime (2010), the story of his travel experience in India, and Memorie di un venditore di libri (2011). He lives and works in Milan, where, since 1991, he is the editor of Italian fiction for Mondadori. He won the Fiesole Under 40 Fiction Award and the Italian author Mondello Award in 2003.