Readers can't survive on e-books alone, author Richard Russo says.

The latest work from the Pulitzer-winning Russo, Interventions, is a tribute to the printed book, while taking a backhanded jab at electronic books and online bookselling.

Interventions is a collection of four separate volumes that are packaged in a slipcase, each work coming with a postcard-sized color print of a painting by Russo's daughter, Kate. The collection - three short stories and a novella - is published on high-quality, sustainably harvested paper.

Interventions is a celebration of printed books and independent bookstores, Russo says. The rapid rise of e-books and online sales of printed books pose threats to bookstores, the book publishing industry and the rise of new authors, he says.

Russo, 62, is the author of seven novels, including Bridge of Sighs, That Old Cape Magic and Empire Falls, which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize.

Interventions brings together four short works that have the interconnecting theme of obsession and intervention. The stories explore the psyches of a real estate agent, a Belgian nun and a young professor as they obsess over different things to the point where somebody has to step in and intervene. The final piece is a short memoir exploring Russo's relationship with the town he grew up in - Gloversville, New York - and its decline with the fall of manufacturing.

- Associated Press