I agree. At first I thought Eragon's selfishness could be an acknowledged flaw but at the end of the day heroes are not suppose to be self absorbed jerks.

Exactly. Recklessness is fine, impulsiveness is fine, being a bit dumb is fine. But being utterly self-centered is not. It just goes too much against what a heroic character is supposed to be, and especially a "traditional fantasy hero", which is what Paolini claims Eragon is.