[9][10] In reports dated 2006 (by Luigi Galella), and more recent work in 2017 by Arjuna Tuzzi and Michele A. Cortelazzo of the University of Padova, Starnone—or alternatively, his wife, Anita Raja—has been proposed as the author writing under the pen name, Elena Ferrante.

'[15] Translations of his novels from Italian into English include Prima esecuzione (2007) as First Execution (2009), Lacci (2014) as Ties (2017), Scherzetto (2016) as Trick (2018), and Confidenza (2019) as Trust or Secrets (2019).

[16] Starnone taught literature at the Marconi High School in Colleferro in Rome for several years early in his career and during the same period, at the Livia Bottardi technical college.

Feature films based on Starnone books have been directed by Gabriele Salvatores, Riccardo Milani, and Daniele Luchetti and he has written many screenplays for big and small screen himself.

[22] He won the Sergio Amidei prize for best adapted screenplay with Ricardo Milani in 2003 for Il posto dell'anima,[23] and has been nominated for three Golden Ciak Awards.

A TV series on Rai 1 called Fuoriclasse (in English: A League of Their Own) ran for three seasons 2011-2015, written by Starnone and based on several of his novels (Ex cattedra, Fuori registro, and Sottobanco) starring Luciana Littizzetto.

[25] In 2016, Italian journalist Claudio Gatti published a further claim that Anita Raja, Starnone's wife, had received financial benefits commensurate with the best-selling Naples Quartet and that she must be their author.