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| Gordon Ramsay's Playing with Fire | 
 enlarge | Author: Gordon Ramsay
Publisher: Harper
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy New: £0.90
You Save: £7.09 (89%)
New (34) from £0.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 1374
Media: Paperback
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0007259883
EAN: 9780007259885
ASIN: 0007259883
Publication Date: May 5, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Frustrated January 1, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I found the book an easy read, but I did feel that it had been put together to make money rather than entertain. I found it light weight in the way it was written and I was not terribly impressed with the English. The idea of suggesting do's and don'ts in business was quite a nice one, but it did not really get to grips with the nitty gritty of it all. I have not read Humble Pie and after reading this book I probably will not bother.
Mouthwatering December 24, 2007
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
Unlike most other reviewers, I have not previously read Humble Pie.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the insight into the business end of restaurant ownership and was totally absorbed.
Prior to reading this I could pretty much take or leave Mr Ramsay. However I was pleasantly surprised by his humility and his sense of loyalty to his staff and peers which judging by the longevity of his staff's tenure appears to be reciprocated. I think there are many good lessons within to pick up on in running any type of business and as the good man eluded to on many occasions throughout the book - your most important asset is your staff and if you look after them properly, they will do the business for you.
Cannot wait until his next offering.
Don't get burned November 30, 2007
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
You shouldn't be misguided into thinking that this is an autobiography follow up to Humble Pie. The book is about how to start, run and keep a business. In the book Gordon reveals ideas on how to run a successful business and maintain the high standards to keep it at the top. It is a great read and he also tells us a bit more about his staff which is good because, as Gordon says, he wouldn't be where he is today without them. I think that for this book to be enjoyable to you, you either have to be a Gordon Ramsay fan or are interested in the running of a business. If you're not, then it could get a bit boring for you. If you are a fan though, this is a great book and a good follow on from Humble Pie.
 Business - as usual... November 30, 2007
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
Playing With Fire is sadly lacking in humility, and is so blandly put together that it functions as nothing more than a padded list of reasons from Gordon explaining how brilliant he thinks his business sense is. Inevitably, the cashflow and credits speak for themselves, and his success cannot be questioned; but as this is neither detailed enough to be a How To Make It business guide, and remains so impersonal throughout, thus failing to function as an engaging autobiographical project, it falls flat. Where is the Gordon that exhibits passion, and never fails to rescue and nuture young talent from bad situations; the one that makes all his other broadcasting bluster tolerable to sit through? He isn't in this book, that's for sure.
And if he was trying to undo the blandness of Humble Pie by taking notes from Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, and cruising on the drama and pathos of restaurant wheeling and dealing, thriving and surviving, Playing With Fire still remains bland - and sometimes bitter - to the taste. Each event is free from any sense of drama or tension, removing any chance for empathy; not only enforcing the media image of Ramsay as arrogant and smug, but also ensuring that Gordon the person - and his life - remain hidden behind the brand stamp of Gordon Ramsay Holdings.
By the time he started talking about his planned assault on the potentially lucrative book and publishing market, I was left feeling that all I was doing was proving him right by holding his book in my hand... And I say this from the perspective of someone that actually quite liked him before I started reading this.
If you want an engaging read, one that will both entertain and inform whilst revealing what kitchen and restaurant life is really like, go read Kitchen Confidential. Not only is that a corking read, but it also includes the one ingredient this sorely lacks - soul.
Oh, and if you're a fan of Alan Partridge, you'll know the running joke about Alan's autobiography, and how it contained endless situations to which he bitterly exclaimed, "Needless to say, I had the last laugh." - Well, Gordon does quite a lot of this, too; forever pointing out how inept and full of hot air others are, whilst all he's trying to do is make more money than them. I don't doubt his brilliance as a chef and maker of killer restaurants, but as a so-called book writer (hmmmm...) he's doing nothing more here than having his cake and eating it: slagging off other who want to do big business, and sneering at celebrity culture, whilst... doing big business, and... putting out vapid celebrity pulp like this.
A sad shame.
An interesting follow up to last years humble pie. November 13, 2007
8 out of 13 found this review helpful
This book provides a fascinating insight into how Gordon Ramsay has grown his business empire. It is amazing to read how he started from nothing and now has a company which turns over around 1 billion a year.
It is interesting to read how highly he speaks of those in his team. He does not tolerate idiots and you get the feeling that although he expects very high standards from all his staff, he is very loyal to them. Far from being a mr shouty shouty all the time, we get to hear about how many of his staff who started with him at his first restaurant, still work with him now. If Ramsay was as difficult to get on with as it is portrayed on TV then he would not be anywhere near as successful as he is.
The book also highlights how many huge risks he has taken in opening up restaurants across the world. It is refreshing to hear him admit he has made mistakes but most importantly has learned from these rather than bury his head in the sand.
Fans of humble pie won't be disappointed and it highlights even further that if you want something enough then anything is possible.
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