Criminology is not a solitary discipline. Indeed, one of the joys of identifying oneself as a criminologist is the hybridized nature of such an identity. Potentially incorporating sociology, law, politics, history, psychology, linguistics, cultural studies and beyond, criminology thrives on engaging with, rubbing up against, absorbing and being transformed by concepts and ideas, ways of knowing and ways of doing, from a multitude of other disciplines. Criminology is a fragmented, distorted, grotesque, fascinating, carnivalesque, cyborgian, monstrous, shapeshifting beast. The premise of this book is, however, that criminology is at risk of stagnating. Structural explanations of crime, in terms of understanding through the social, economic and political spheres, have too often neglected the individual; while the individualization of crime and criminality continues apace, oblivious, it seems, to the enormous and varied influences that bear upon us. Instead, I argue, in the spirit of Wright Mills (1959/2000), that life is made up of a range of interconnected stories. Some we are told and some we make up. In some we are the star or co-star, in others we are mere bit-players or may not feature at all. Stories tell us about power and control, about what you can and cannot do. But the most exciting stories are those that allow us to move beyond ourselves, where alternative realities, experiences and endings are played out.