Joseph D'Agnese October 7, 2012 My Handmade Standing Desk (with thanks to Emily St John Mandel) Joseph D'Agnese October 7, 2012 After hearing so much about standing desks, I built one out of two wine crates and a set of quaint books I don’t use that much anymore: dictionaries.I saw that the author Emily St. John Mandel built her own standing desk using cardboard boxes, and I couldn’t resist trying something similar.I will probably need to raise the screen a little higher.