Don't Bring Your Vibrator to Rehab: A Somewhat Comedic Memoir

by Pam Gaslow

Don't Bring Your Vibrator to Rehab is an emotionally frenzied memoir that reveals the terrifying and lonely world of addiction. After almost a decade of sobriety, Pam Gaslow relapsed into a life of dependency on marijuana, which nearly destroyed her. She recounts a devastating downward spiral that shattered her at forty-five years old. From bongs to pipes to flavored vape pens, she drifted and then dove into a two-year-long stoned a protracted journey to nowhere. Gaslow was the twenty-four-hour defunct addict living without purpose and barely able to function. And while she was aware that pot wouldn't kill her, she couldn't feel more dead inside.

At times hilarious and harrowing, Gaslow paints a raw portrait of a woman held hostage by her substance abuse. Eventually becoming sick from marijuana toxicity, she finally finds the courage to seek treatment. Her journey via rehab from an entirely checked-out, lethargic, hopeless, and suicidally depressed pothead to a sober woman with clarity and gratitude is told with honesty, intelligence, wit, and a remarkable degree of self-deprecating humor.

138 pages, Paperback

Published January 11, 2022

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

thanks to the publishers and netgalley for a free copy in return for an open and honest review.

This book was funny in parts but did seem to lose its originality as the book progressed forward.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sad this book didn’t turn out better. Whilst the ins and outs of rehab are well described, there’s not much else to it, not much substance (pardon the pun here) just screams another privileged individual in rehab, nothing about whether it worked or what happened next which I feel the story needed to make it whole.

[Raquel Fuell · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a hilarious ride to rehab. I finished this book while getting a mani pedi so definitely a quick read but I loved it from start to finish. I’m so glad I was able to read and review this book

[Lanette Sweeney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I almost never rate any book this low, but this comedian's insulting references to her fellow addicts, including a transwoman, merited a poor review. The author is brash and funny but appears wholly unable to explore what is driving her to get high, nor to view her fellow rehab residents as fully human.

[Melissa Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book because the cover and description were great. I found the writing a bit of a frenzy and felt like it was moving around too much.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book

[bookishcharli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not going to lie, I wanted to read this one purely based on the title and a little bit because of the cover, and let that be a lesson to me because this was an absolute cringe fest for the most part. This is a book about an addict who checks herself into rehab because she realises she can’t continue with all her self destructive tendencies anymore. I can’t personally comment on how accurate the portrayal of addiction is (having neither been an addict myself), it does shine a very scary light on the medical problems that you can suffer after sustained use of narcotics. This is essentially a book filled with a woman obsessed with sex and not understanding why she can’t manage to find a partner, and her battle with her inner demons.

It was okay but I don’t think I’d recommend it to anyone and I can’t see myself reading anything else by this author any time soon.

Thank you to netgalley for a copy in exchange for my review.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
The title and cover of this book are definitely eye catching but there's not much substance to the book. It's pretty shallow and cringe worthy. The parts about life in rehab were ok but I've definitely read better books about rehab and recovery.

[Baylee Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

I thought this book would be funny. It wasn't. The author may be going for dark humor, which I enjoy, but she misses the mark. Despite her age, she just sounds like a kid with a bad attitude.

I wasn't enjoying it but failed jokes and a bad mood aren't enough to get me to put down a book. What is enough to get me to DNF are the multiple moments of fatphobia by the author. Ridiculous. She mentioned that she had to stay skinny because no one would have sex with someone stupid and FAT. Then later, she is in disbelief that the people on "My 600-lb Life" are married. How could they be married and she be alone, she wanted to know? I didn't wait to see if there was a third instance; two is enough.

I hope this person gets over their bullshit.

[Charlotte · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't Bring your Vibrator to Rehab is an eye-opening but frenzied memoir of a recovering addict.

Pam Gaslow is a forty-something addict who falls off the wagon after ten years sober and spirals into a depressing, unhealthy life of smoking marijuana to function. The problem is the weed keeps her from accomplishing anything. She falls into a deep depression, suffers from cyclic vomiting syndrome, stomach issues, chronic cough, and countless other minor health issues that add up.

Her love life is a catastrophe. Dating is stupid, but Pam feels an overwhelming depth of loneliness. The problem is she can't be bothered to care, and with her overwhelming lack of empathy, Pam self-sabotages her desire for a real relationship.

Pam knows she has to put herself in rehab, or she'll never have a life worth living. So she enrolls in a rehab center, suffers withdrawals, and meets interesting characters.

Don't Bring Your Vibrator to Rehab provides a new perspective on marijuana addiction. Though there are benefits, and if used in moderation, weed can often be beneficial to people. But it can also become an addictive drug that can cause the user to spiral into depression, incapable of functioning without taking a few hits before retrieving the mail.

Gaslow also brings to light the detriments to health that constant use of marijuana can cause. It can slowly poison the user, cause lung and throat issues, stomach problems, and mental health issues. However, her character and whiplash writing makes it hard to care whether she can overcome her addiction again.

The pages are saturated with her obsession with sex and good-looking men. She bases all her dates on looks and even comments on possibly shagging the first fellow male rehabber if it weren't for his missing tooth. Pam also writes repeatedly about weight, commenting how she can't understand how the people on My 600-LB Life have partners, but she can't manage to find one.

The answer to that is pretty easy to come by. While Pam's dark humor might not be for some, it's her vapidity and complete lack of moral character that made this novel challenging to care about or want to finish. Regardless, the book does showcase how varied addictions are and is a refreshing perspective on how little we should judge what addiction is to each individual.

[Nora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall rating: 3.5/5

This was a relatively enjoyable and breezy read, detailing the author’s struggle with addiction and her final stint in rehab, following a crippling marijuana addiction after a decade of sobriety.

What first drew me in was the title – memoirs are not something I’d normally pick up, but the title intrigued me. I had a vague idea of what rehab entails, so thought this would give me a better insight into an addict’s journey to recovery; and now I know you’re only allowed the bare essentials in rehab (amongst other things). The author’s observations of what goes on in rehab and her fellow patients were funny (a little dark at times) and felt like she was talking (writing?) to a friend about her experience. I did enjoy some of her zingy one-liners.

At the same time, the writing style was frenzied (for lack of a better word), as though she had too many thoughts that could not be constrained within the pages of her memoir; and it was slightly distracting and disjointed. It also felt on the whole, a little superficial – not quite the deep dive into her struggles with addiction that I was expecting.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance e-copy.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for a pre publication copy. In return for an honest review! #dontbringyourvibratortorehab #netgalley

Pam tells her story of going from addict to rehab and then back to addict. This time you follow her through her journey of rehab number 2. Will she manage to stay sober?

I saw this title and immediately knew I must read this book.

This book does exactly what it says on the tin. A comedic memoir about Pam's life and how she overcame peer pressure, self esteem and of course relapse.

Only thing I felt the last chapter was very rushed. We went from day to day rehab life with minimal feeling of getting close to discharge. To then in a few lines Pam's discharged and the book ends from there. Slightly more feeling of change/ growth occurring in each day would feel less of a jump in the last few lines. Possibly hearing about Pam's life for a few days to months when discharged would also prevent this ending and address the issues with going from rehab to home.

Also some derogatory language towards others needs to be changed. We shod be supportive of each other snd a poor editing over sight

[Kasey · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title and the cover are absolutely incredible. In the description, this memoir is described as "frenzied" and I think that's the best word to use. I found this memoir a little all over the place, a little hard to follow, but with moments that glimmered through that were hilarious. The number one thing I can say is that this memoir is honest and raw. The negative things I felt about the book are likely due to that honesty. I didn't find Pam relatable, and at times I didn't even like her all that much. I found the story meandering and at times a little slow.
There is someone out there who will love this book. There is someone out there who will be helped by this book. This book was not really for me, but I believe it is for someone!

Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy

[Avery]

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc!

I was drawn to this book from the title, Don’t Bring Your Vibrator to Rehab. I was expecting a funny book with absurd stories but unfortunately, this one fell flat for me.

This book was not very detailed and incredibly surface level. There was no depth in any part of the book and readers don’t actually learn anything about the author. You learn more about the people around the author than anything else and even then, it’s quick, meaningless conversations between people.

What I did like was the author mentioned a Newfoundland dog, which is my favorite breed so that was a personal plus for me.

Overall, this was a very quick read but I would recommend skipping this one if you’re on the fence about starting it.

[Georgie | The Pink Prose Parlour · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don’t Bring Your Vibrator to Rehab

The cover and title definitely attracted me to this book. The pros, it was a fairly breezy and quick read and the frenzied way the author went around writing this memoir was kind of relatable to me who has a dark humoured and quick adapting mind. However I did find it to be rather shallow. It was very much “ME ME ME!!“ The whole time. The dark humour kind of worked with the overall self-centredness of Pam during this time in her life because let’s be honest addicts can have that trait but I can understand why people didn’t feel a great connection to this book.

I think a 3 out of 5 for me.

[Sophie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pam writes about her journey in sobriety. She finds herself back in rehab in her 40s after a decade of sobriety. It's a raw and often funny account of what led her into rehab, and how rehab helped her. It isn't at all an insight into rehab, as it's definitely not detailed in that sense. It was more about herself and the other people in there. But because it's a short read, the fact it's not factual doesn't take away from the experience.

It would have been a 3 star if it wasn't such a short book.

[Haley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well this was a confusing read for me. It felt like either the author or the editor got changed halfway through the book. I was really enjoying this at first. It had the quick wit of Amy Sherman-Palladino TV shows, but unfortunately that fell away to a frenzied writing style that at times I just couldn't follow. I wouldn't recommend this book solely for the writing style change which really throws a wrench at the readers.


I got this book from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Richela Rosales · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. I thought from the title and cover that it would be funny, and it was at parts but mostly it felt like it was trying to be. I would never dislike a memoir for having an unlikeable character, but it went a bit deeper than that. It spent a lot of time judging and saying unflattering things about others in my opinion. I felt like that could have been traded for more substance and introspection. But hey, I wish her well on her sobriety.

[Michele Rios Petrelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was hilarious. At times I felt bad laughing because she's in rehab, however I felt like she was alright with that considering it is a "somewhat comedic memoir." I also appreciate this was about a cannabis addiction problem. Most people don't deem pot as addictive, but it is and contrary to what most people feel it does and will alter your personality, behavior and mannerisms.

I cheered for her all the way to the vibrator!

[books4chess · Rating 2 out of 5]

A light hearted quick read from 'Pan' about her lifetime battles with addiction. A great spin on what must have been a hard recollection of events.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc.