Proof

Proof is set in Hyde Park near the University of Chicago campus. It deals with the death of a genius mathematician, who spend a good chunk of his life in near insanity. (Why is it that mathematicians portrayed in the arts all tend to be crazy? I wonder if the feeling is mutual, with all only crazy artists making their way to mathematical proofs?)

During the last part of his life, he was cared for by his daughter, who sacrificed her college education to care for him. (Well, she was going to Northwestern, so it must not have been much of a sacrifice.) This daughter is the primary protagonist of the story. She seems to have a lot of her late father's mathematical talent, as well as his tendency towards insanity. She is struggling to create her own identity, battling a "normal" sister that she has trouble relating to.

I like this primarily for its setting in "Hyde Park". The story is interesting, though it has a little too much profanity for my taste.