skygiants

Well, "doesn't have a fairly clear self-image" is true of the protagonist (narrator?) of Bright Lights, Big City, as I recall. But he kind of annoyed me. *wry* Intentionally, I believe; he's meant to be annoying and flailing directionlessly, and unlike a lot of high school English class assignments I didn't hate the book. But I don't recall all that much of it in analytic detail. It's kind of an amorphous mass of second-person Me Generation rich-but-unhappy-businessman doing drugs and wrecking his life and stuff. Er. It's an upper! (Actually, I don't remember the ending. I guess it could be.)

Yes, anyway, to the first person thing. I very much agree! I think it also works with the less boisterous sort who self-narrate in an introspective way, but that one's harder to keep interesting with a distinct voice, I think. It's doable! But sometimes one falls into the trap of Clever Writing Tricks or else no distinct voice because the narrator sounds so much like the author.